Lord of Benevolence
by mikebreslau
Summary: Book 3 of the KMT Trilogy, in 5 chapters. Keiichi remakes Heaven and Hell in his own image, but it doesn't come easily. He finds a new father, a new mother in law, new friends, and a new deity. Rated T for cerebral content.
1. Training the Gods

An Oh My Goddess fanfic  
by Mike Breslau

Note: Most of the characters appearing in this story are copyrighted by their rightful copyright owners and are used without permission, but with gratitude. Donner appears with the consent of Ed Sharpe, who holds the copyright on the character. Please don't sue me, I haven't got enough to make it worthwhile.

In this story, _this is emphasis,_ and ::this is telepathy.::

* * *

The Lord of Benevolence  
As told by Morisato Keiichi 

Chapter 1 - Training the Gods

Having read and enjoyed my sister's memoir, "Megumi No Megami," I thought I'd like to add a bit and extend the story a little. It's been a long time since those early years when I still burned with the impatience of mortal youth. Remember that I was less than 40 years old when the events I relate below happened, and I still had much to learn. Let me begin where Megumi left off, just after the conclusion of our wedding reception banquet.

* * *

After the festivities were over I took some time to show our parents a few more of the scenic locations in Asgard, including a tour of our new home. Then I teleported them back to the interior of our former home, intending to remain for an hour of debriefing and settling in. It would be unwise to return them to the mundane world and just leave them there, because they had experienced too much that was astonishing and would need some time to calm down. 

Keima was beyond words. He threw his arms around me and gave me a hug that spoke volumes.

Takano beamed with joy. "You were right, Son, I just can't believe all the things I've seen today. You've made us very proud and happy." She paused to catch her breath, then continued, "When Megumi offered us the temple yesterday I wanted to refuse. Our friends and jobs are far away, and it didn't seem practical to live here. Now I think that you can overcome any difficulties we might face, and I'm inclined to accept your offer."

I agreed. "If I had tried to offer you a universal shortcut yesterday, you wouldn't have believed me."

"From now on I'll have to believe anything you tell me, no matter how strange it may sound."

Keima found his voice. "Son, what is a 'universal shortcut'?"

"It's a doorway to anywhere, directed by the intentions of its users." I pointed to a rather plain-looking closet door. "Just think clearly about where you'd like to go and then walk into the door. If you want to take anyone or anything with you just hold on and they'll come along. Would you like to try it?"

Keima paused a moment. "But how do we return? The shortcut stays here, doesn't it?"

"The shortcut works in both directions, but one end always stays here. You just have to intend to return here and walk into any reasonably flat surface, and you'll emerge from the shortcut right here."

Takano asked, "Won't we be conspicuous when we walk out of solid walls? I'm sure I'd be surprised if saw someone doing that."

"The shortcut spell has privacy provisions. The only people who'll be able to notice you are those who already know the truth, or potential gods and goddesses. If you brought your friends here through the shortcut, they'd remember being here but would have no recollection of how they got here."

Keima was intrigued. "Let's try it."

We held hands, and Keima led the way into the closet door. It offered less resistance than a soap bubble. In a minute we were in a deserted office on the fourth floor of a building in a downtown location.

"This sure beats commuting," Keima murmured.

Crossing the room, he approached a cabinet with a large flat door. He placed his hand against the door and noted that it felt solid. Taking our hands, he resolved to return to the temple and tried the cabinet door again. He easily passed into it this time, and we all followed.

"Can I try it now?" asked Takano, "I want to visit my friend Nabuko."

I suggested a point of etiquette. "A word of advice, Mom. When going to someone's home aim for the outside of their front door if possible. That way you can ring the bell instead of appearing unannounced inside a room."

"A good point," she agreed, "I'll be back soon."

Mother was brave; she went solo on her first try. She returned quickly because her friend wasn't at home.

I stayed and talked for a while longer. It became clear that my parents were going to like living in the temple. Megumi and I would come back for a few hours the next day to move their personal belongings from their old home. Afterwards we would try to visit them every weekend. I made dinner, and left after we had finished eating. It was my wedding night, after all.

I returned to our new home in Asgard. Our advance team had done a fine job of selecting a site and putting up a building. Part of it looked like a larger version of the temple, with a dozen classrooms added on at one end. It was made of heavenly materials and the architecture blended in with its surroundings, but the design influence was obvious. We really didn't want to cut our ties with the time we spent in the original temple, for those had been the happiest and most exciting years of our lives. For my sister and me this night marked the end of our adolescence. Tomorrow we'd begin our adult careers. We'd be going to work.

The next day Urd and Skuld returned to their regular jobs running Yggdrasil, the computer that runs the world. Megumi, now the Goddess of Computing, joined them because she needed to get familiar with the Yggdrasil system. Belldandy resumed working at the Relief Goddess Office, but she also served as registrar of my new school. There was very little work involved in being registrar because we charged no fees, assigned no grades, and gave no diplomas. Her principal duty was to see to it that I wasn't overloaded with too many students at a time, so all she really had to do was list the students in each class.

I began my teaching in eight groups of four students each. There was a morning session and an afternoon session, so I could train 64 gods per trimester. At that rate I could reach all the gods in eight trimesters. The material of that first course was essentially the same as I had already taught on Earth, rearranged into a more logical sequence and with a little new material added. That course, initially untitled because it was my only offering, was later called "Magic" and still later renamed "Elementary Magic." I was no longer making it up as I went along, and the groups were synchronized with each other, so my daily preparation time was minimal. Even so, I was putting in 80-hour days. It's a good thing I had increased my stamina. You may wonder why I was working so hard--I plead guilty to impatience and ambition. I was still quite young.

Megumi and I briefly returned to help our parents move their things. We were feeling the shock of adjusting to our adult jobs, but we were in good spirits and got the moving job done quickly. We didn't have to pack or unpack anything. Communication and coordination were efficient since we were both present in the old home and the new. Takano was impressed by how well we worked together. When it was over, we hugged our parents and departed.

When we were making preparations to relocate to Asgard in the weeks prior to the wedding, I had given a little thought to what I'd wear. My wives had no problem; they normally wore goddess garb. The prevailing dress code for gods was elaborate, spectacular, and showy, but not always practical. Since I wasn't a god, I wasn't bound by their standards. I wanted something nicer and more formal than my usual tee shirt and jeans, but I didn't want to give up comfort or convenience. In the end, I settled on two basic costumes: a pastel colored polo shirt with trousers a darker shade of the same color, or a dark colored turtleneck pullover with black trousers. Belldandy approved of my choices, but I detected a note of envy. She wouldn't mind wearing something so obviously comfortable.

Tomasu was in the morning session of my first trimester. When he had heard that we were open for registration, he quickly signed up. He wanted to see if I could do for him what I had done for Skuld and Urd. I'm pleased to report that I made a believer out of Doubting Tomasu.

Megumi and I went to visit our parents that weekend. It had been an eventful week, and we were both eager to unwind and tell our stories.

Megumi started first. "I had my first good look at Yggdrasil on Monday. It's huge and quite impressive. They had to raise the speed of light inside the box to permit such a large computer to function efficiently. The components are infallible so it has no hardware faults ever. In contrast, the software is a great disappointment. No wonder they have bugs, it's full of spaghetti code."

Takano was puzzled. "The computer that runs the world is full of Italian noodles?"

Megumi laughed, a delicious sound. "I wish it was that simple. The programs are written by gods, who are good at what they do, but they've no understanding of modern software engineering practices. 'Spaghetti code' refers to programs whose flowcharts are so disorganized that they resemble a bowl of noodles. There's only minimal modularity, with no information hiding, no structured or object-oriented programming at all. They can't properly test new programs before going live. It's going to take me a while to get this operation into proper shape, but it'll be well worth it."

It was the first time I had heard of this. "What are you planning to do?"

"Onii-sama, I'm going into competition with you and will teach some classes of my own. The programmers need to be brought up-to-date. Then I'll duplicate Yggdrasil, data files and all, so that we'll have an off-line system to test and debug new code before it goes live. We'll have dedicated smaller computers to feed input signals into and collect output signals from the old and new Yggdrasil systems, so we'll have a record of how they differ in performance. The smaller computers will also be able to simulate extreme conditions that you wouldn't want to have happen in the real world so that we can test how the code reacts to stress. That way we'll be able to have confidence in our new programs before they go live. Kami-sama approves of my plan and yesterday he authorized me to do it."

I was impressed. Have I ever mentioned that I'm proud of my sister?

Then it was my turn. "I'm teaching magic to groups of four gods each, mostly by telepathy in order to minimize misunderstanding. I don't want to have larger groups because that would dilute the personal attention that I can give each student. The biggest problem I'm having is getting them to unlearn old habits. When they go from 'I already know how to teleport' or 'I already know how to fly' to 'that's so easy' or 'why didn't I think of that?' then I know I'm making progress. But there's more.

"I have a hidden agenda. I'm trying to encourage creativity, spontaneity, and fun while I seem to be teaching only magic. Next week I'll begin giving homework assignments. Most of the assignments will have several possible solutions, but one of them will have no solution at all. Some of the assignments will be intentionally silly, or even absurd. I want to shake up and wake up the gods to get them out of their ruts. Many of my students are thousands of years old and have become set in their ways. I hope to rejuvenate them, to restore the sense of wonder and the feeling of limitless possibilities that one enjoys while young."

Keima radiated approval. "You've done that for us already, Son," he said. "You've restored our sense of wonder and convinced us that nothing is impossible. I thank you, and the gods will thank you too."

Takano joined in. "Indeed you have. But, Keiichi, you should have warned us about the pantry."

It took me a moment to realize that I had forgotten the pantry and the refrigerator when I had been removing spells from the temple. Both now contained exactly what you were looking for, and nothing else, whenever they were opened.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I replied, "It slipped my mind. I hope you weren't inconvenienced."

Mother laughed. "It's not inconvenient at all, but I can't shake the feeling that there are more magical surprises waiting for us to discover them."

Megumi said, "Why don't we give them a tour of the temple as it used to be, so they'd have a sense of what to look out for."

I looked at the twinkle in Takano's eye and knew it was a good idea.

I began explaining what we had in mind. "Have you heard of Virtual Reality? This will be something like that. You'll experience exactly what you'd have experienced had you actually visited us in the past, but since you aren't really there, you won't be noticed by anyone or able to influence anything. Now set your mental clocks back a couple of months and we'll visit the temple on the day before Mara, Deiko, and Phoko moved out."

There was no sensation of movement, but the appearance of the temple around us altered. I pointed out the visible differences, then lead the way to Megumi's room.

"It seems much larger," observed Keima.

Megumi answered, "It's about three times as large as it should be, but wait until you see Keiichi's room."

We then entered Mara's room, which was adjacent to Megumi's. "There's no such room here in our time," remarked Takano.

Mara and Phoko were there, but they paid no attention to us. "Why are there coffins on the floor?" inquired Father.

Megumi answered, "They used to be demons, and they sleep in coffins out of habit."

Mother looked surprised. "They were goddesses when we met them at the wedding. I didn't know they used to be demons."

Megumi pointed to me and observed, "Onii-sama doesn't know the meaning of the word 'impossible.'"

Takano chuckled and agreed. "He certainly doesn't."

We toured the other rooms and saved my room for last.

"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Takano when she saw how large it was.

Keima laughed. "It's a good thing you can fly, or it would take an hour to reach the closet. Talk about conspicuous consumption!"

"I might have overdone it a little," I admitted. Do I get extra points for understatement? Belldandy was in the room, but she soon left. She seemed to walk right through us because we weren't really there.

Keima gestured at the bed. "This seems extremely large, even for a man with four wives."

"We never tried to use all of it," replied Megumi.

"This is quite nice, but I'm glad you put it back to normal for us mortals. I couldn't cope with a room this size," Mother said.

"That concludes the tour," I announced, and the temple returned to its normal appearance.

Megumi and I made dinner, and soon the four of us were enjoying the meal.

Takano observed, "This food is so tasty and plentiful that it's amazing that none of you seem to be gaining weight."

"Just another benefit of magic," Megumi explained.

Keima said, "I'd like to hear your history, if you don't mind. Obviously, a lot must have happened during the transition from what you were to what you are now."

"That sounds reasonable," I observed, "Next week we'll bring the whole family and see how much of our story we can cover. It may take several visits to cover the highlights, because it's been an eventful four years."

Our visit ended soon after that and we returned to Asgard.

The next day's classes covered bilocation, which turned out to be one of the most useful spells I had developed. Those gods who had heard of it had been eagerly awaiting this lesson, but I couldn't introduce it any earlier because the foundations weren't in place yet.

The day after that I taught the variations on bilocation, including gender changing and morphing. I showed them how to deduce what they'd be like had they been born with a different gender, and how to predict what their appearance would be at different chronological ages. This lesson met with some resistance, but it began to open some minds to really new ideas for the first time in a long time.

On Wednesday I gave my first homework assignment. There was some initial grumbling--"All this and homework too?"--until I explained.

"All assignments are optional, but if you don't try them you might not learn something interesting. That will be your loss, not mine. Don't spend more than two hours on any one problem or do more than one problem per day. Finally, if you don't enjoy working on an assignment, tell me about it and I'll try to modify the problem for future classes. Now here's your first assignment: try to design the most completely useless spell you can think of. Devise some magic that has no possible value at all, even as entertainment. Got that?"

Most of the students were baffled. "Why do you want us to make worthless magic?" was a typical reaction.

"You've been doing useful magic all your lives," I replied, "Wouldn't it be refreshing to do something completely different? Besides, this will give you practice designing new spells to meet new challenges, and that will be good for you."

The next day was rewarding as the gods demonstrated their new spells. A great deal of creativity was evident. Tomasu produced a gray fog that fell to the floor and slowly evaporated.

"That's pretty good," I said, "Can anyone find a use for this spell?" There were no responses. I suggested, "Suppose there was an insect on the floor and you dropped this on it. Would it confuse the bug?"

One god cautiously asked, "Is a confuse-a-bug spell useful?"

I replied, "Not very, but I had asked for a spell of _no_ possible value."

The next spell was even more useless. It was completely invisible, and all it did was to erase itself until it was all gone. The class applauded. This one would be hard to beat.

On Friday I gave my second homework assignment. "Choose one of the following and create five new and useful spells that use it: a cigar, a condom, a camel, a compass, or a centimeter. For extra credit, use two or more items from the list in the same spell, or produce more than five new spells. Remember not to spend more than two hours on this."

Most of the gods were incredulous. The general reaction ranged from "impossible" to "ridiculous."

One bold student asked, "Sensei, what's the purpose of this exercise?" In Japan, pupils never question their teachers, but this wasn't Japan. My pupils were all gods, older and possibly wiser than I was.

"You should have learned the principles of devising entirely new spells by now. This exercise is intended to ensure that you actually produce new spells, and not rehash some that you already know. It will teach you creativity and stretch your imaginations." This seemed to satisfy them, and they accepted the challenge.

Perhaps a note about weekends is in order here. In Asgard there normally are no weeks or weekends. Running the world is a full time job, and deities took time off when and where they could. Since my responsibilities consisted of teaching, I had more freedom to set a schedule. I was keeping to a mortal style week partially out of habit and partially for convenience in visiting my parents on weekends. As I mentioned, this weekend and several weekends further were spent bringing my family to visit my parents and filling them in on as much of our recent history as seemed reasonable. It made a complex and fascinating tale.

On Monday we saw the results of the second homework assignment. A great deal of creativity was evident, along with some clearly derivative thinking.

"What's that camel doing on top of the television?" asked a high-pitched voice.

There was a bright flash and some noxious smoke, but no more camel on the television. A camel bomb? I'm glad my bomb-loving wife Skuld didn't see that.

"It smells bad," complained a student.

"Let me handle that," offered another. She waved a cigar at the foul smoke that filled the room. The air was immediately clean and fresh.

"An odor eating cigar? Now there's an original idea!" I declared.

Then there were the flying camels. The first one was harmless; it delivered presents as if competing with Santa Claus. These were presents for grown-ups; they were gift-wrapped condoms. The other flying camel wore a fireman's hat and extinguished fires using a technique that only a male camel could use efficiently. He must have had a very large bladder. The class howled. Let's not forget the cigar-smoking camel who oozed out of a cigarette pack every time it was opened and exhorted people not to use tobacco products.

There were other categories of entries as well. A goddess produced a flowerpot and buried a compass in the soil. Upon watering it a little, a green shoot appeared and soon grew into a low bush topped by an eight-petaled red flower. The flower inclined toward the North no matter which way the flowerpot was rotated.

"A Compass Rose," I guessed.

She beamed. "I omitted the thorns for ease of handling," she explained.

Two days later I gave the third homework assignment. "You're to construct a cliche detector. It must resemble a cartoon or a caricature and be funny enough in appearance to make someone laugh. The detector should roll its eyes and stick out its tongue when it hears a cliche, and flap its ears when it detects insincerity."

By now many students were rolling their own eyes, and a few were sticking out their tongues too. I took this as a sign that they were beginning to catch on to the spirit and intent of my assignments.

My pupils were growing bolder and more inventive. Three of the 64 students brought in caricatures of me. I awarded them extra credit for bravery. Thor designed the best of the lot. He brought a really cute little purple baby elephant. Instead of sticking out his tongue, the elephant raised his trunk and blew colored bubbles.

I was delighted. "Why Thor, I didn't think you had it in you!" I exclaimed.

The elephant rolled his eyes, and the class cracked up. I awarded Thor extra credit for not following instructions. He had thought for himself.

"Thank you, Sensei," Thor said, "I haven't had so much fun since my child was young."

When I speak of "extra credit," I mean public recognition and praise. I wasn't assigning grades, or ranking students, or even taking attendance. "Extra credit" was one of the few motivational tools I had, but it was sufficient. My students came because they wanted to learn, and I came because I wanted to teach. We were all enjoying our roles and life was wonderful.

The rest of the trimester passed very much like the part outlined above. On the last day of class I removed the walls and addressed two sessions of 32 gods each. There was no final exam. I gave a two-hour summary of the material we had covered followed by a two-hour question and answer period. One of the gods asked whether I was planning to teach any additional material.

"I certainly am," I replied, "This is my career and I have eternity ahead of me. There will be courses in more advanced magical techniques, at least one in psychic skills, and perhaps a course in sexual pleasure, among others."

That got their attention. "What can a youngster like you teach old hands like us about sex?" demanded Thor.

I smiled wickedly. "What can a youngster like me teach old hands like you about magic?"

There was a quiet murmur from the class.

"Sensei, you had quite a reputation as a teacher and magician before you even opened your school," said a goddess.

I responded, "There are some things that are usually done in private, without advertising. If you need references, ask my wife Urd." Another murmur, a bit louder this time. I continued, "I've had considerable experience being both genders, which few of you have had. Besides, there's always Rule Three."

The goddess looked confused. "Sensei, what is 'Rule Three?' Did I miss something?"

I realized that I hadn't covered my three rules because it didn't seem appropriate in a magic class. I thought I'd better explain. "When I discovered that I'd become unique, and that the rules of mortals, gods, or even demons didn't apply to me, I had the opportunity to develop my own rules for living. So far I've developed only three. In decreasing order of importance they are:

Rule One--Do as much good and as little harm as possible. Every major system has some variation on this rule at its core.

Rule Two--Nothing is impossible until proven to be so, and possibly not even then.

Rule Three--Whatever I don't know I'll try to find out."

Thor looked respectful. He said, "Sensei, if I tried for a thousand years I couldn't find better rules for living."

"Would there be homework assignments?" asked a voice from the rear of the room. Most people were still tantalized by the thought of a sex course.

"This is still in the planning stages, and is likely to change. All pupils will be required to come as male and female, as will I. There will be two simultaneous sessions, one for each gender. I plan no demonstrations or laboratory work during class. There will certainly be audiovisual aids and homework too. I imagine the homework will be very enjoyable. I hope to be informative, not offensive, and will even accommodate nonstandard sexual preferences. Don't try to sign up yet, this is still a work in planning."

All the students seemed to be in a joyous mood except one. I approached him and asked, "Tomasu, you look troubled. Is there something wrong?"

He replied, "Sensei, you've completely wrecked our licensing system. Even prepubescent children will be able to pass our tests now unless they're changed. We'll have to revise our standards. If you keep on teaching magic, we'll be chasing a moving target. We may never catch up." He was obviously upset.

"For starters, you could date the licenses or list the test standard revision number on them," I suggested. Tomasu brightened. "Or you could consider abandoning licenses altogether," I continued.

Tomasu was shocked. "That's impossible!" he responded.

I shrugged and said, "Rule Two."

My second trimester was already fully enrolled, and gods were signing up for the third trimester when a shock went through the Asgard community--Kami-sama was enrolled in my third trimester! The rumormongers had a field day. All I could say was, "He signed up. How could I refuse?"

That weekend I told my parents the news. Keima looked amazed, but said nothing. Takano twinkled. "I always thought he had good sense," she observed, "and my son is the best teacher there is. What could be more natural?"

They were actually taking it better than most of the gods were, perhaps because they were less involved. I thought again that my parents were very special people.

The second trimester began the next day. It was largely a rerun of the first trimester. Only one detail is worth recording here. The goddess Peorth was in the afternoon session. She wore her on-duty goddess garb because it was in the middle of her workday. One day after class I managed to ask her a question that had been bothering me a little ever since I first encountered her on Earth.

"If you don't mind my asking, Peorth, isn't your outfit a little impractical and even uncomfortable?" Her original uniform featured wide leather bands that floated around her in loose loops, making her look not like a bondage queen but rather like a present waiting to be unwrapped.

She smiled ruefully and replied, "It certainly is. I've gotten used to it, and these bands get out of my way when I move my arms, but it still inhibits my movements."

I asked, "Then why don't you wear something else?"

"It's the rules," she answered, "I'm not allowed to while on duty."

"Who makes these rules?" I wondered.

She answered, "Kami-sama himself did. From time to time one of us has spoken to him about it, but with no results. There are times I'd like to force him to wear this for a week, but..."

I resolved to speak to Kami-sama myself about this rule. I can be very persuasive, and he did seem to be more inclined to listen to me than I had expected. I should mention that Megumi's on duty garb was both comfortable and practical even though it was goddess fancy and showy. She had had the foresight to specify that in her wish. I knew she was smart.

Imagine the joy and surprise that ran through the heavenly community the next day when Kami-sama announced an easing of the dress code. Once per decade a god or goddess could petition for a change in garb. The suggested design would have to pass a standards committee of five senior deities chosen for their aesthetic judgment and good taste. Kami-sama retained a right of veto, which he seldom exercised. Only Peorth suspected I had something to do with this change in policy. I guess I just can't leave anything alone if it could be easily improved.

Kami-sama was in the morning session of my third trimester. Naturally he got a session entirely to himself, so there were three fewer students in my third trimester. He had three reasons for signing up: he wanted to give me his endorsement, he wanted to take the class (and the homework) just like any other student, and he wanted to get to know me better. After the first day my anxiety faded, and the course went surprisingly well. Kami-sama really needed my lessons on precision and control. He had always used his great power to compensate for inaccurate application. The homework assignments were also welcome. He possessed creativity and imagination, but these qualities had grown rusty from disuse in recent eons.

* * *

Author's Mumblings: My very first fanfic, Keiichi's Magic Trick, arose from a divine inspiration and compulsion. My second fanfic, Megumi No Megami, was inspired by KMT. This story in turn was inspired by MNM, and caused me to refer to the whole collection as the "KMT Trilogy." 

Since then, two more fanfics have been set in the same universe. I'll post them here as soon as I can. I've kept the name "KMT Trilogy" because "Keiichi's Magic Trick Pentology" just didn't have the same cachet...  
Mike


	2. Another Father

The Lord of Benevolence  
As told by Morisato Keiichi

Chapter 2 - Another Father

On the last day of the trimester I met separately with Kami-sama in one room and with the other 28 graduates in another. I took the opportunity to present to Kami-sama my so-called "grand plan" for Earth. I wanted his approval in advance because he would probably be getting the credit and the blame from the mortals.

I explained that in my experience insufficient loving during early childhood caused more human misery than all other causes combined. This sounds like an extreme statement, but I had done my research and I could back it up. The concept of my grand plan was simple enough: people who were unwilling or unable to love their children properly from birth through puberty would simply not have any children. I proposed to phase it in over seven generations, or about 150 years, starting with the most severely affection-deprived individuals first.

Kami-sama thought it over for a week, and then he approved my plan with some modifications. It would take longer, and there would be two or more preplanned pauses during which equilibrium could be reached and progress might be evaluated. We were both aware that the plan would cause a major disruption on the mortal plane. He and I would monitor the effects on Earth, and if it seemed to be going awry the scheme would be revised or terminated. The grand plan was officially launched a week later.

In a few years some statisticians noticed the reduction in birth rate. A year later some physicians began to notice it too. The problem gradually got worse (or better, depending on your point of view) with each passing year. Then one day a fertility specialist whose spouse was a psychologist initiated a systematic study of his patients. They finally published a research paper noting that a disproportionate number of affection-deprived people were infertile. This initial study was ridiculed, but it was eventually replicated on a larger scale and the results were unmistakable. The condition was named Affection Deficit Sterility, or ADS for short. The doctors were mystified when they could find no physical cause for the condition.

Although ADS was a worldwide problem, some areas were affected more than others. There were countries where generations of armed conflict had prevented much opportunity for loving, and these were soon in serious decline. Given a choice of making peace or becoming extinct, a remarkable number of mortals chose extinction. To tell the truth, they were hardly missed. In contrast, other societies had a long tradition of caring for their children above all else and these were hardly affected at all.

Other effects of the grand plan included a significant reduction in the (already much too large) human population, with corresponding reductions in pollution, resource consumption, etc. The reduced population would also increase the perceived value of each human life.

There were economic consequences too. The sale of pets increased. Employers had to treat their workers better if they wanted to keep them. On the downside, some major retirement plans were in trouble without an adequate supply of younger contributors. The grand plan was hardly painless, but the alternative was more painful: war, famine, and disease. Kami-sama and I agreed to stretch out the remainder of the plan by another generation. We had already caught the worst offenders.

I seem to have gotten ahead of my story. The fourth trimester of my class was uneventful, except for one significant phone call. My mother called us with some interesting news.

"Keiichi? I think you ought to hear this..."

"Yes, Mom, what is it?"

"This morning I was visiting my friend Nabuko. Her daughter Kimiko and her grandson Hitomi were there too. I had a good time, and I left via your shortcut like I usually do. A couple of hours later I received a phone call from Nabuko. It seems that four-year old Hitomi had asked her, 'How does Mrs. Morisato walk through walls?' Nabuko thought this was funny enough to bear repeating."

"Thanks, Mom, that is very interesting."

"What does it mean, Son?"

"It means we have a very young potential god on our hands."

My family gathered together after work to discuss the situation. Never before had a god candidate been identified at such a young age and there was simply no precedent for handling such a case. We'd have to invent a procedure on our own. The consensus was that for now watching and waiting without interfering would be the best policy. Finally, Megumi came up with a brilliant suggestion. In Japan it was common for families that could afford it to arrange special tutoring or send their children to cram schools so they could get into the better colleges and secure better jobs. Who could do his tutoring better than I? We cast a spell that would notify us when and if Hitomi's parents began to seriously consider such a move. We could more or less relax for a few years. Unfortunately, we still had no policy about how to handle young candidates who were not Japanese.

A few weeks later, during our regular weekend visit, Takano asked, "Can Keiichi teach us how to do magic even though we're mortals?"

Megumi answered before I could, "Yes, of course he can, but I wonder if it's wise. Magicians don't fit well into contemporary Japanese society. Do you really want to have powers that you need to hide?" She had obviously given the question a lot of thought during the later stages of her own training.

"I wasn't thinking of god-level power, I don't think either of us is ready for that, but isn't there something suitable for mortals?" asked Takano.

I tried to answer. "In mortal societies where shamans or witches were expected to practice magic, there were a few common themes. Magic was used for healing, divining, weather control, wealth, love, crop abundance, and the casting and removing of curses. I think we can exclude some of these immediately. You don't need to deal with crops or curses in daily life. It may be unethical to do love or wealth magic, and you two don't really need either of those. Weather control affects a large number of people and can have unintended consequences, such as drought. That leaves healing and divining as potentially suitable subjects. Healing magic sounds like it should be safe, but every physician knows that healing techniques can be misused to cause harm. Any kind of power needs to be used responsibly and wisely."

Keima understood my caution. "You don't want to be the new Prometheus, stealing fire from the gods and giving it to mortals. It can be useful, but it can be destructive when it gets out of control."

"That's a good analogy, Keima. Actually, Megumi _is_ the new Prometheus. She was the one who discovered how mortals can generate magical energy, and made my scandalous career possible."

Megumi said, "I believe that healing and divining would be acceptable. Mom and Dad are good people, and aren't likely to abuse their power."

There was general agreement on this point. I began to train my parents in divining, which is actually ESP rather than magic. We went slowly and cautiously (at least compared to the rate at which I trained my divine students). In a few months they were both adept at finding misplaced keys and lost children. Then I taught them how to use simple healing and restoring spells. They both had an aptitude for this kind of magic. Keima even discovered that a healing spell could be used to recharge a depleted battery.

I considered the possibility of letting magic loose in the mortal world. I quickly realized that it was a terrible idea--humans weren't capable of using their own technology wisely. It would be disastrous to let magical power fall into the wrong hands. Megumi and I would watch our parents to be sure nothing really bad happened.

During the fifth trimester Belldandy noticed a subtle problem enrolling the remaining gods in my classes. Some delicate probing revealed that the difficulty lay not with the course, nor with the results my students were achieving, but rather with _me_. Many of the holdouts wanted to take the course but they wanted somebody older, or somebody female, to be their instructor. I thought that these concerns could be addressed without difficulty. Belldandy noted the kind of tutor each student desired and grouped together those with similar needs. It wouldn't be hard to give each group a teacher they'd be comfortable with.

As the sixth trimester was ready to begin, I looked over the preferences of the various groups that I would be teaching. There had been a kindly old professor at NIT whom everyone liked and respected. I thought I'd use him as a model for one of the replicas I'd be using. I estimated that he was about 60 years old, so I tried to extrapolate what I'd look like at MDA (Mortal Development Age) of 60 years. I was deeply shocked and upset at what I saw. I muttered, "Rule Two." There was no way I could go to class looking like _that_.

I let my hair grow to shoulder length and then carefully increased my MDA by one year at a time. At 66 years I achieved a perfect match. I muttered, "Rule Two, and Rule Three too." Except for differences in complexion caused by his being Nordic and I Oriental, the face in the mirror was Kami-sama's!

I spawned a replica at MDA 50 years and left him to cope with the class, while I went looking for my friend and newfound father, Kami-sama. I extended my senses to cover all of Asgard, and found him alone in his meditation garden. I teleported over there because I had no desire to be seen by anyone I might pass along the way.

Kami-sama sighed when he saw me. "I see you've discovered my little secret," he said, "I was unsure if I should tell you because I couldn't predict how you'd react."

I replied, "To tell the truth, Keima, I'm not sure how I might have reacted either. Why don't you tell me about it now?"

Kami-sama explained at length. "Keiichi, you have three parents: your mortal mother and father, and your designer, who now sits in front of you. I'm not your biological parent; you aren't flesh of my flesh the way the three Norns are. But I've had more influence in forming you than your biological parents have had. I have spent centuries planning and designing you and your sister Megumi, and arranging the circumstances that shaped you both into becoming what you now are. I designed your parents, your friends and acquaintances, and your environment. I went to great lengths to make sure that no chance or overlooked element would spoil my design. I'm responsible for all the experiences you had on Earth, even the Lord of Terror incident. You and your sister have been given complementary strengths and abilities, and different but compatible ways of thinking. The extent of your vast powers will gradually become apparent as the centuries pass. You two are and will always be a great team. I'm pleased to say that you two have turned out every bit as well as I'd hoped you would."

I was having trouble absorbing all this at once. "All my friends... Even Belldandy and her sisters?"

Kami-sama shook his head and said, "No, the three Norns were well established when I began planning, but it wasn't hard to adapt my plan to fit them in. You'll remember that it was my direct orders that caused Urd and Skuld to live with you on Earth for years, with nothing better to do than fight with each other. It was my decision to send the child Belldandy to a time and place where she'd meet your younger self. After those few interventions I could let nature take its course with the three goddesses."

That left me with one important question. "Why? Father, what was your motivation for such extensive intervention?"

Kami-sama slumped a bit before replying. "Son, I _need_ the two of you. I need your freshness and energy and optimism. Someday I may need your power too. I've been essentially alone, without really close friends or a peer group for 16 billion years, and always with the responsibility for running a universe that grows steadily larger and more complex. I grow stale, Son, that's worse than growing tired, and I face an eternity of more of the same. I can no longer deal with this alone."

I understood that completely. The mere possibility that I might face a similar fate, eternity without real friends or peers, had driven me to cast my first magic spell and set in motion the events that had brought me here. But now that desperate act appeared to have been part of his master plan.

Kami-sama continued, "I've given you and Megumi the longest period of youthful zest and vigor that I could arrange for, but eternity is a long time. The day may come when you will find yourself designing your own heirs. On that day you may begin to appreciate my motives. I hope you aren't angry, Son."

He stood and embraced me as tears filled my eyes. I said, "I _can't_ be angry, Father, you pulled my claws, remember? You designed me without malice, anger, or hate, but that doesn't mean that I can't feel hurt."

Kami-sama made comforting gestures as he explained. "I had no choice, Son. I've given you powers and abilities that I don't even trust myself to wield. If you could get really angry there's no limit to the damage you might do. Destroying the entire universe would be only the beginning of what you're potentially capable of. You should be able to see the wisdom in pulling your claws."

I shuddered. "I don't need, I don't want, such great power. Absolute power corrupts. I'm better off without it."

Kami-sama smiled. "That's why I can trust you with it, Son."

"Am I going to have any more revelations?" I asked. I wasn't sure how much of this I could take.

He answered, "I haven't planned any more. You've escaped from my programming when you moved to Asgard, and you're now a free agent. Keiichi, you love, honor, and like your mortal parents. Can you find it in your heart to do the same for me? I'll wait for you, however long it takes, because I want--no I need--to be your friend."

He was quoting me now, repeating what I had said to Skuld. After a minute I answered him. "I hope I can, Father, for then we'll both have what we want the most--real friends and a peer group." I had a whimsical thought. "When I made my wish, I thought it was _my_ wish that was being granted. Later I found out that Belldandy thought it was really _her_ wish that was granted. Now you've implied that it was actually _your_ wish that was being granted. Do you suppose that sometime later it will come full circle, and it will turn out to by my future, more evolved, self whose wish was truly being granted?"

Kami-sama chuckled. "I wouldn't be surprised. I've seen stranger things than that in my lifetime. Rule Two!"

I stayed with him for a couple of hours more, the two of us sitting silently in his meditation garden. We must have made an interesting sight--near twins sitting together harmoniously without speaking. We both had a lot to think over. Eventually, I resumed my normal appearance and returned home to address my family.

It was just before dinner and everyone was there. It was clear from my demeanor that something important had happened. Urd greeted me with, "Hi, Kei-sama. Why the long hair and the long face?"

I wanted to break the news to them gently if I could. I said, "Conference time, ladies, gather round. Urd, Goddess of the Past, please do a quick scan and see how many people Kami-sama has addressed as 'Son' in recent eons?"

Urd looked puzzled, but it took her only a minute to scan half a million years. Her eyes opened wide with wonder as she answered, "Only you, Keiichi. What does it mean?"

I didn't answer, but I addressed Megumi. "Meg-chan, please show us what you'd look like at MDA 66 years old."

Megumi looked startled, then confused, and then shocked before she manifested. There was a collective gasp from the three Norns. "If this is a joke, it's in very bad taste," quoted Skuld. Can you imagine Kami-sama in drag as a Japanese matriarch?

I manifested my own 66-year old image and explained how I'd made my discovery. Then I projected a replay of my conversation with my designer. This was followed by several minutes of silence as my wives tried to digest the revelations.

I spoke up. "I really don't want anybody else to know, but there's no way I'm going to keep this from my sisters--all four of them."

Megumi was taking it well, all things considered. "So the Norns really are my sisters in a sense! I'd felt as much even before I moved into the temple, but back then I thought it was obviously impossible. But then I thought it was impossible to have three parents. Rule Two..."

Megumi restored her normal appearance, and I followed suit. This time I even restored my normal hair length.

Skuld asked, "Kami-sama referred to you as his heirs. Is he planning to retire?"

I replied, "Skuld, you're the Goddess of the Future, and I can't presume to speak for my father. My guess is that he isn't planning to retire. Just knowing that it's possible for him to do so may be enough of a relief that he no longer needs to. Now he's no longer alone, he has people to share the load with, peers to play with and argue with. It puts him in an entirely different and better situation."

Skuld turned toward Belldandy. "Onee-sama, what's this about your wish being granted?"

Belldandy blushed slightly and replied, "As soon as I met Keiichi as a child, I felt a bond with him. I wanted to be with him as a friend and companion because being near him made me feel good. I didn't know anything about love or mature relationships at that age. When I had to return to Asgard I didn't forget him, and I watched him grow up from afar. I wanted to work in the Relief Goddess Office in case I might have a chance to grant his wish someday. I was hoping he'd want me to stay with him. When I heard his wish I was delighted, as if my dream had come true."

Skuld looked remorseful. "Oh Belldandy, I'm so sorry. When his wish was granted _I_ didn't know anything about love either. I thought he was forcing you to stay with him, and you thought it was the other way around. You each wanted to be with the other. I never even suspected... I've been such a fool." She began to sniffle.

Belldandy hugged Skuld and tried to reassure her. "Skuld, let it go. Keiichi and I have both forgiven you. You really wouldn't want to be born as an adult because there's so much that's valuable in childhood that you'd miss. Remember that children can't be expected to understand adult feelings. The important thing is that you do understand now, and we both love you, and you love both of us. What could be better?" Skuld looked relieved.

I continued Belldandy's thought. "Skuld, don't you see that it's _not your fault_? Kami-sama wanted you to behave the way you did, and made certain that you had no choice. He used you to further his own ends. You're without blame, but you don't seem to be able to get over feeling remorseful. Would you like my help with that?"

Skuld brightened further. "Can you really do that? What do I have to do?"

"Just stay still for a minute."

I went into her brain and weakened the strength of selected synapses without actually removing them. Then I moved to the psychic level and removed a portion of the shame she had been feeling. I only took away about 30 of her discomfort, because I had offered to help, not cure. I loved Skuld the way she was, and I was afraid of changing her personality, but I didn't want anyone I cared for to suffer so much needless distress.

When I was finished Skuld thanked me. "I think I can deal with the rest myself, Kei-sama. Thank you very much. Where did you learn to do that?"

I grinned and produced a little yellow book entitled "Brain Surgery for Dummies." Skuld groaned appreciatively. I went over and hugged her, and we embraced as adult lovers do. Then for good measure I hugged my other wives, one at a time. We all had a lot to think about that night.

One day during the sixth trimester I sensed a disturbance outside after class. I went to investigate, wearing the female body I was using for this session. I found two of my students arguing. The goddess Fieara was having a problem with the young god Aeton about the location of the latter's red convertible. I did a double take. It was a very nice red convertible, a two-seater with beautiful sporty lines. He could have sold thousands of them on Earth, but it was totally inappropriate in Asgard. Rule Two.

When he saw me coming Aeton drove off amid simulated exhaust and engine sounds and the convertible was soon flying out of sight. Talk about impractical! Combustible fuels weren't permitted here, and there were no roads, so Aeton had to power the car with his own energy. With a small shock I realized that I had been looking at a grown-up child's toy.

I asked Fieara if she'd mind telling me what this was all about. She said, "Oh Sensei, that guy can be such a baka (fool) sometimes. His domain is Traffic, but he's developed a passion for cars. I don't mind his playing with cars, but he keeps trying to park his car in my..." She stopped and turned a delicate shade of pink--a rather pretty sight. "Oh! Do you think he's trying to tell me something?"

I realized that I was unsually qualified to advise her. In my years with the auto club at school I had encountered many similar types of young male behavior, and my extensive multi-gender experience had given me a unique perspective.

"Fieara, guys don't think the way we do, and it's harder for them to develop social skills. On Earth many young men use cars to bolster their self-esteem or to try to increase their confidence. It doesn't work too well because self confidence is inside of them and their cars are outside of them, but they keep trying and hoping. Aeton's behavior suggests that he has a feeling of attraction towards you that he doesn't know how to express appropriately, and might not even be aware of himself. This isn't uncommon in males at the threshold of maturity, who have little social experience and aren't yet sure who they are themselves."

"Sensei, how can a guy have feelings and not be aware of them? If you don't feel them, how can they be feelings?"

"You haven't spent much time as a male, have you? You should try it for a while just for the educational experience. Men have feelings, but they're wired differently, with more filters to pass through before they become aware of them. Don't give up on Aeton just because he's young. Many men become quite civilized when they mature and become more experienced."

"But what can I do now?" Fieara asked plaintively.

"Go for a ride in his convertible. It's the one place where he can't put his car in your way. He may feel secure enough in his car that the two of you can actually talk and get to know each other. If you find you like him, his boorish behavior will probably stop because he has your attention at last. If you don't like him, you'll be able to tell him how much distress he's causing you. If you'd like, Keiichi-kun could have a little talk with Aeton to get his side of the story and straighten him out a bit."

Fieara smiled. "I'd appreciate that. Thank you, Sensei."

This incident was my first experience as a relationship counselor, a role I've played many times since then.

* * *

After the seventh and eighth trimesters were finished, I was a free man. Megumi was also relatively free, having gotten Yggdrasil into decent shape. The computer bugs weren't all gone, but they were definitely on the endangered species list. Hitomi was still too young to need tutoring, the grand plan for Earth was slowly making progress without day by day attention, and it was time to begin my next major project. I'd need some help on this one. While I would be doing most of the work, I wanted to be sure I was completely prepared before I started. It was time to tackle the demons.

I called a meeting, inviting Kami-sama, Megumi, and all of the former demons in Asgard: Mara, Deiko, Phoko, and a slender god who went by the name Setun. I began the meeting with, "I've an ambitious project planned. I want to rescue the Lord of Terror and reeducate him, bring him over to our side. He'll have the responsibility for reforming the other demons, with my help, if needed. I want whatever advice and support you can give me, but I also need your help in training and preparing for this mission."

Kami-sama radiated pride and approval. He would help however he could. Megumi and most of the former demons were astonished. My idea was too audacious for words.

Mara was delighted. "You're really going through with it? Wow! How can we help?"

I tried to explain what I wanted. "The Lord of Terror is a very powerful demon. He may not be more powerful than Kami-sama, but I don't want to underestimate him. The Lord can be expected to be subtle, devious, and surprising. I don't want to be surprised, and I want to be ready for _anything_ he might try. I plan to spend several months training. I want Kami-sama and Megumi to be my sparring partners--powerful opponents who'll try to defeat me in combat. I'd like the rest of you to be advisors on demon psychology. If you feel comfortable doing it, you could mentally link with my sparring partners and advise them how a demon might react in a particular situation. If any of you feel uncomfortable in the role I've suggested, you'll be excused with no hard feelings. I know I'm asking a lot of you, but I'm also asking a lot of myself. After three months we'll have another meeting to assess my readiness. When we all agree that I'm ready I'll put the plan into execution, and not before."

There was a buzz of excitement. Some of the former demons were disturbed at the prospect of returning to a way of thinking they thought they had left forever. Others waxed nostalgic, and looked forward to reuniting with demon friends they hadn't seen in a long time. Everyone agreed to pitch in, with various degrees of enthusiasm. We would begin the next day at a remote site I had selected for this purpose.

We met the next morning in a mood of anticipation. I explained that I'd have three non-participating replicas some distance away as a safety precaution. Should anyone succeed in destroying me completely I'd have some spare selves to carry on. My "opponents" might be wise to do likewise. We wouldn't be pulling any punches. My sparring partners faced the delicate task of deciding who would be linking with whom. They'd be working intimately with their former demon advisors, and it would be best if all parties were comfortable with the arrangement. Mara and Megumi were soon paired, and Setun was comfortable with Kami-sama. After a period of experimentation Phoko joined Megumi's team and Deiko joined Kami-sama's team. I'd be sparring with one team in the morning and the other in the afternoon. It promised to be a long day for me.

My task was complicated by my essentially pacifistic nature. I'd go to great lengths to avoid hurting someone if I could. That meant I had to be able to decisively beat a powerful opponent without harming him. Talk about tough assignments!

Megumi was on first, while the other team planned their strategy in the background. She began with a physical attack using an enchanted sword. Physical attacks rarely work against entities at our level. I made no effort to block or dodge her sword, but let it pass harmlessly through me without meeting any resistance. She was surprised because the spell on the sword was supposed to ensure its effectiveness. She was even more surprised when the sword seemed to develop a will of its own and began attacking her. She quickly saved herself by banishing the sword.

Megumi tried a psychic attack next, hitting my shields from several directions at once. After a strenuous effort she succeeded in cracking my shield only to scream in frustration. I had another, stronger, shield inside the outer one! Now I turned the tables and began attacking her shield while maintaining my own. She teleported behind me and attacked from the rear. My offense and my defense tracked her, and she gained no advantage.

Megumi used magical attacks next. Force bolts and lightning only made me stronger as I absorbed their energy. She was expecting that, so she had prepared an energy-sucking spell that would transfer all of my mana to her. I modified her spell in mid flight. It still got my energy (I didn't really need it anyway) but transformed it to water before delivering it to her. Megumi was soaking wet!

"Onii-sama, that's pretty slick," she said.

"No, you're pretty slick," I replied, and added a little detergent to the water to make it slippery.

The rest of the morning continued like that. Neither of us could get a decisive advantage over the other, but it became clear that the odds were in my favor. We were both glad when the midday break came. The Norns had come as spectators and Belldandy brought lunch for everybody. We rested a bit after eating, then the Norns repaired the damage we'd done to the scenery and it was time for the afternoon session.

Kami-sama began with a fierce multi-pronged attack. On the physical plane he hit me with hot dense plasma straight from the interior of an active star. On the psychic level he was pressing me from three directions at once with tremendous force. On the magical level he used a constricting stasis field intended to paralyze and crush me. I took over the stasis field and used it to confine the plasma. I allowed a small opening to direct a stream of the stuff at my opponent. Then I made my mental shield slippery and altered its shape somewhat. His mental thrusts slid off my shield and into each other, knocking all three away from me. We grinned at each other appreciatively. It promised to be an interesting afternoon.

Kami-sama had been taking "demon" lessons. He next tried to possess me, something he wouldn't normally think of doing. I responded by simply resisting and repelling his effort instead of trying something more sophisticated. I wanted to see how great an effort of this kind I could resist because I was sure the Lord would try it sooner or later. My opponent and I were fairly well matched, we were both novices at this, but I did manage to keep him out.

Now it was time for me to go on the offensive. How could I defeat an opponent without hurting him? Try a spoonful of sugar, or rather a large pitcher of honey. I covered Kami-sama with a layer of the sticky stuff and added some ants and gnats for a further distraction. Naturally this was no ordinary honey. It resisted all efforts to remove or transform it, and Kami-sama found he couldn't escape it either. The bugs were equally persistent. Neither psychic nor magical attacks would affect or get past the sticky barrier.

After ten minutes of futile efforts to escape he gave up. "Keiichi, how do I get this stuff off me? I'm pretty well neutralized and uncomfortable too."

"There are two ways that I can think of," I replied, "You could ask me politely, or you could try eating it. It's nutritious, and so are the insects."

My designer shuddered a bit and tentatively tasted his left arm. "It's good!" he said.

His tongue elongated to a meter and a half in length, and we were soon treated to the sight of the ruler of the universe licking himself in places no one had ever licked himself before. I could hear a bit of quiet giggling from the spectators.

"This is going rather slowly," he complained.

"Well I'm in no hurry," I replied, but I removed the remaining honey with a wave of my hand.

An hour later Kami-sama tried to possess me again. He promptly found himself in possession of a cherry tree, while I stood nearby and admired the blossoms. Muttering something about a "blooming idiot," Kami-sama animated the tree. It grew thorns and reached out towards me. In moments the tree was embracing a marble statue, while I had become a large number of small bees and was trying to get intimate with the flowers.

We called a halt when the afternoon drew to a close. We were all tired by now, even the spectators. This had definitely been an unusual experience for all of us. Kami-sama surveyed the scenery and suggested that from now on we use a private universe for our practice sessions. It took all of us 40 minutes to repair the damage that had been done.

Kami-sama joined my family for dinner that night. He was certainly welcome. I was glad we could remain friends after a long day of combat. Conversation was lively as we compared notes and reviewed the day's events.

Addressing Megumi and Kami-sama, I said, "You know I really don't want you to pull your punches. The Lord of Terror certainly won't."

They looked at each other, puzzled. Megumi asked, "What makes you think we were pulling our punches?"

I was confused. "I didn't get hurt or injured today, yet logically I should have. That plasma attack should have burned me before I had time to react to it, yet it didn't even singe my clothes. If you weren't protecting me, I don't know why I got off so easily." To Kami-sama I said, "Designer, is there something you haven't told me? Invulnerability perhaps?"

He shook his head. "Wasn't in my plans. I can't explain it."

After dinner Belldandy asked, "Kei-sama, would you like a nice relaxing bath to relieve your fatigue?"

"Sounds great," I replied.

With a grin she announced, "I've prepared just what you need" and lead me to a room that had been equipped with a four-meter diameter tub filled with incandescent boiling lava.

"That's just what I needed," I declared, and I vanished my clothes and approached the tub. "Feels nice," I said as I tried it. I stepped in and submerged until only my face showed. "No, it feels wonderful," I corrected, "Want to join me?" The density and viscosity of the lava made it feel more refreshing than a water bath. Life is full of surprises.

Belldandy disrobed, an act that has never failed to get my attention. Then she began to apply a protective spell. "Bell-chan, try it without a spell first. You can always add one later if needed," I suggested.

Belldandy looked skeptical, but she cautiously approached the tub. Since she still felt no discomfort, she gingerly placed one toe into the boiling lava. She smiled with surprise and immersed herself up to her shoulders.

"It feels very nice. Kei-sama, do you know something you're not telling me?"

"I have my suspicions," I replied, "but I'm not telling anyone for a while yet."

Soon everyone had joined us in the bath. Urd and Skuld needed protective spells for comfort; Megumi and Kami-sama didn't. Everyone was surprised at how good it felt. We had started a new custom, which persists to this day.

Belldandy made a suggestion. "I think we made a mistake today by not inviting our four advisors to join us. They may not be family, but they're making a valuable contribution to our effort. We should support them and show our appreciation as they try to perform the difficult trick of being demons by day and gods by night." We all agreed.

The next day we gathered at the former practice site. I began by apologizing to the former demons and invited them to join us after "work" for an evening of relaxation. Phoko had other plans, but the other three accepted. We then created a private universe about the size of the solar system and teleported inside. Combat was noticeably fiercer than before because we had had more time to get ready and were more experienced.

After five days of one-on-one combat we dropped the prohibition on bilocation. Soon we resembled a small crowd, having three to nine replicas per side. Four days later things got really hectic, as Megumi and Kami-sama would challenge me simultaneously. We had a real melee going. Sometimes it was more than I could handle, and they managed to pin me down, but I usually managed to wiggle free quickly. A week later a particularly memorable incident occurred.

Kami-sama and Megumi (four replicas in all) had managed to bind me (only one replica) so that I couldn't move or cast a spell when suddenly I vanished. They searched for me with all the senses at their disposal and got conflicting answers--I seemed to be nowhere and everywhere simultaneously. Then my opponents found themselves confined by enormous forces and pressures, as if they had tried to sit on a black hole. After half a minute of this Kami-sama shouted, "greenword!" (our prearranged cease and desist signal) and I promptly released them. I reappeared and hurried over to be sure they were all right. No permanent damage had been done, but it was more uncomfortable than I had intended.

Kami-sama sat up and asked, "Just what did you do, Son? That was incredible!"

"I just thought of it right now, Father," I answered, "I _became_ the space-time fabric of the universe."

He nodded. "I felt as if the universe itself was attacking me, and it really was. You're quite a formidable foe even if you're a pacifist. I guess this is what I get for designing a son who's endlessly inventive."

On the day before the meeting that we had scheduled in order to evaluate my readiness the most significant event of all occurred. I had once claimed that I could divert _all_ of the magical power in the Demonic Source and put it to my own use. I had never actually tested this claim. We had let it be known throughout Asgard that on this day, during a specified hour, there might be a brief "power outage" and the deities weren't to count on continuous availability of external mana during this time. Naturally this caused a major stir and excitement--no one had ever even considered such a feat before.

Megumi and Kami-sama tried their best to keep me from completing this trial in order to simulate realistic battle conditions. Despite this, I still could partially tap the Divine Source and use its power to form a shield around myself so that I could work undisturbed. I had no intention of directing that enormous energy directly; instead I used some of the mana to construct a first stage spell that would use a larger portion of the power to construct a second stage spell that would seize all the remaining mana flow and direct it as I wished. In this indirect way I could greatly amplify my own power and still be protected from being burned out by the forces I was directing. I used the resulting power to place my opponents in stasis. They couldn't even think a new thought; all they could do was note the passage of time. After half a minute I dropped the stasis field and carefully released the Divine Source.

I was shaking when it was over, not from fatigue or jubilation but from revulsion. "No one should _ever_ wield so much power," I declared.

Kami-sama gathered himself together and sent me a shielded thought ::Better get used to it, Son.::

He and Megumi were unhurt, but we were all glad that my combat training was essentially over. None of us ever want to go through that again.

Mara approached me with a very strange look on her face. She dropped to her knees and bowed low before speaking. "My Lord, grant thy servant a boon. Teach me a word that I can use to describe this accomplishment. The words that I know, like 'awesome' or 'incredible,' seem wholly inadequate." Mara was still thinking like a demon.

I gently raised her to her feet and gave her a comforting hug. Then I stepped back and addressed the entire group. "Look at me. I'm Morisato Keiichi, born of mortal man and woman not that many years ago. I'm not that different from you--I have needs and feelings much the same as you do. I don't want to be revered any more than I want to be reviled. I wish you could accept me as I am, just an ordinary guy trying to cope with some extraordinary abilities. I try to act wisely, to do more good than harm, and to have a little love and pleasure in my life. Sometimes I fall short and don't do as well as I might have. Isn't the same true of you all? Please don't distance yourselves from me because of what I've done. Like anyone else, I need friends, acquaintances, and lovers."

To Mara I added, "If I ever find the word you want, I'll be sure to let you know."

The "power outage" hadn't gone unnoticed in Hell. The demons could sense a temporary change in the very fabric of creation, but they couldn't identify the cause or the nature of the change. Already demoralized by the loss of their leader and rendered nearly impotent by the enhanced magical skills of the Megami, the demons were aware that unknown and powerful new forces were loose in the world.

That afternoon Onna-Keiichi visited all four of our advisors simultaneously. Using my female form increased their comfort level because she was a more sympathetic figure than my male self was and she was also one step removed from the man whose achievements were so unsettling. She tried to comfort and support them as they readjusted to being full time gods again. It's not at all easy being a part time demon after you've made the decision to leave all that behind you forever. I'm glad I did that, it was the right thing to do.

The next day we held my readiness evaluation meeting. It was quite brief. Setun suggested that I was "overqualified."

Deiko said, "I almost feel sorry for the Lord of Terror, but I know from personal experience that he'll be much better off once he adjusts."

Mara was excited. "I want a piece of the action. This promises to be interesting."

"I was hoping you'd say that," I replied, "It will be good to have you with me." I also wanted Megumi to be available. I thanked the rest of the group for their time and effort and dismissed the meeting.


	3. Lord of Terror

The Lord of Benevolence  
As told by Morisato Keiichi

Chapter 3 - Lord of Terror

After all that preparation the actual conversion of the Lord of Terror was anticlimactic. If I had not prepared so thoroughly it would have turned out quite differently.

* * *

The Lord of Terror lay on the floor, in a barely conscious state. I had been surprised at how big he was. In his preferred body he was just over two meters tall and would have problems going through most mortal doorways. His dark bronze skin and muscular build reminded me somewhat of Urd-kun. There was a large open gash in his left side where Skuld's magnet had begun to erase his substance. He heard a voice say, "That's got to hurt," and then felt a healing spell skillfully repair the damage.

Collecting his wits, he managed to say, "Thanks," and then he opened his eyes. When he could focus, he saw a familiar face and a very unfamiliar aura. "Morisato? I thought you were a mortal. What..."

I answered, "My Lord, when we last met I also thought I was a mortal. We were both wrong. You've been dead for five years, and much has changed." I'd been given a complete course in demon etiquette. It didn't take very long at all.

The Lord of Terror sat up and looked around. To my eyes our surroundings resembled the interior of a modern hospital. He said, "I'm in Hell."

"I thought you might be more comfortable in familiar surroundings," I explained.

He looked at me. "I thought your kind wasn't allowed in Hell."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Just what kind _is_ my kind?"

He examined my aura, compared it to every type he knew, and found no matches. "I give up. Morisato, what are you?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," I said wistfully, "I've found no label or category that seems to fit me properly."

He looked at me and said, "You brought me back from the dead, didn't you? Why?"

I tried to phrase my answer carefully. "Perhaps I owe you a favor, because I learned a lot from the experience of being possessed by you. I regret that we had to kill you because anyone with your power and ability shouldn't go to waste. Finally, your demons need you. They've been disorganized without an effective leader, demoralized because the least of the gods is now more magically effective than the greatest of the demons, and they're fearful because powerful and unpredictable forces are loose in creation."

As if proving my point, a disconsolate demon shambled by, paying no attention to us at all. I had used a spell to keep us from communicating with or being noticed by the resident demons. The Lord of Terror was disturbed by my description of the sorry state of the demons. He conducted a quick scan of Hell and found matters were even worse than I had described.

"How did this happen? How could things get so bad in only five years?"

I answered carefully again, "My Lord, I'm responsible. It's taken me a little over two years because I needed some time to adapt to my new powers."

He stared at me for a while, his expression unreadable. Finally he asked, "What do you want of me?"

"Lord, for the next few months you'll be my pupil, and I'll teach you how to increase your abilities significantly. Then you'll lead the demons out of darkness and despair into light and hope. Eventually, I expect you and I will become good friends."

The Lord was incredulous. "I have no need for teachers or friends," he declared.

I smiled slightly and responded, "My Lord, in about a year I may quote that back to you, and we'll both have a good chuckle over it."

After a brief pause he said, "When you mentioned 'out of darkness into light,' you meant you want me to convert the demons into good little boys and girls."

I nodded. "If I didn't think you were smart, I'd have left you dead."

He began to lose his composure. "That's impossible! A 'good demon' is a contradiction in terms. They'd rather die first. _I'd_ rather die first!"

I replied rather sternly, "Lord, you have no choice. I've given you as much freedom as I could, but where my plan would be imperiled you have no options." I continued more gently, "I know for a fact that it's possible to reform a demon, because I've already done it. I can even reform you, and you'll thank me for it some day."

That was too much for the Lord of Terror. The hall rang with menacing demonic laughter. He glowered at me and said, "Do you mind if I thank you in advance?"

I knew what was coming, for I had spent months training for it and felt well prepared. "Go ahead," I said with a slight smile, "I don't mind."

The battle that followed was most unusual. For 50 minutes the Prince of Demons hit me with everything he could think of that had any chance of success, while I made no attempt to stop him or retaliate, and hardly any visible attempt at self defense. A few of his spells I remember were:

The Triple Constricting Helix of Pain--or the DNA from Hell. They were supposed to inflict deadly levels of pain upon contact, but they had a weakness. I reached out with my bare hands and broke off a piece, then gingerly tasted it. I made a face, it was too sour, and threw it away. The remainder of the spell shriveled up and blew away on contact with my body. This spell was ineffective against anyone with enough love in his heart.

The Shears of Delight--well if pain doesn't work... Nice try, but I had been making love to four wonderful goddesses for several years now, and it would take more than this spell to overload my ecstasy circuits.

The Planes of Geometry--Imagine being embedded in a five-dimensional Rubik's Cube with random permutations. Fortunately, I had a half dozen spare selves out in the real world, so I had a frame of reference and a link to follow. I just stepped out of the trap and back to where I had been.

The Grapes of Wrath--little purple globes with the appetite of a pac-man and the teeth of a piranha. I turned them into raisins and ate them before they could eat me.

Seeing that sophisticated spells caused me no damage at all, the Lord of Terror tried brute force. He hit me with a concentrated blast of energy containing enough mana to vaporize several entire solar systems. When the pyrotechnics died I was sitting there undamaged and unruffled, however my aura showed a considerable increase in magical power and glowed more brightly than before.

I said quietly, "You don't have to hold back for my sake, Lord."

He clenched his fists in frustration, glowered at me, and rumbled, "I _wasn't_ holding back."

I sighed and replied, "That shows how badly you need my tutoring. With all that power you should have been able to hurt me at least this much," and sent him a pinprick of pain in one thumb. He didn't flinch. I waxed philosophical for a moment. "Life can be so unfair at times. With all your anger, you can't hurt me. You can't even annoy me. On the other hand, I _can_ hurt you and have absolutely no desire to do so. This mismatch between desire and ability can be frustrating at times."

I gathered together all the energy that I had absorbed while he was attacking me and offered it to him. "Here, you need this more than I do." This gesture was intended to demoralize the Lord. His immense magical power had been central to his image of himself, and important to his self-esteem. By giving it away I was suggesting that his power was of no value, and by extension he himself wasn't significant. Then I performed a healing and restorative spell.

"Do you feel Okay now?" I asked. He nodded, obviously disoriented by my behavior. This wasn't the way an opponent was supposed to act. I responded, "Good. Now it's my turn."

I slowed him down. Let me explain that. I cast a first stage spell whose sole function was to replace the second stage spell whenever needed. The second stage spell constructed or reconstructed the third stage spell as needed. The third stage spell drew its power from the Demonic Source and used it to slow down and confine the Lord of Terror. Each part of his mental, physical, and magical selves was slowed down by a random factor ranging from 3 to 40, with no two adjacent parts having the same slowdown factor. This made it completely impossible for him to coordinate or act effectively at any level. The second and third stage spells were designed to self-destruct after one second, so they'd frequently be replaced with new ones. The first stage spell would construct each new second stage spell with different random slowdown factors, so every third stage spell was unique, and he could never adapt to a steady situation.

It took the Lord half an hour, by my time, to realize that he could partially nullify my spell by slowing all of himself sufficiently. After another half-hour he concluded that he could neither destroy nor escape from my spell. I waited patiently. Two hours later he knew that he had been defeated, but couldn't bring himself to admit it. At that point I canceled my spell to spare him further discomfort.

He collected his wits for a moment, then said with grudging admiration, "That was a most effective spell, Morisato."

"Actually, it can easily be improved upon," I replied. I proceeded to explain in detail how the spell worked. I showed him how I had left in the escape path he had found by slowing himself down, and how it could be removed. I showed him how the third stage spell could be extended to nullify his magic and psychic powers. It was a most educational experience.

The Lord of Terror was completely baffled. He had never met anyone who acted the way I was acting, and now I was showing him how to improve my own spell. It made no sense. Worse still from his point of view, I wasn't at all afraid of him. "What are you doing, Morisato? And why?"

"I'm teaching you, my Lord. That's what I came here to do, remember?"

"Aren't you afraid I'll use your own spells against you?"

"No, my Lord. No matter what spell you use against me, I'll invent a countermeasure before you can harm me." It wasn't a boast, but a simple statement of fact. An expert had designed that ability into me.

I tactfully refrained from mentioning that he _couldn't_ use a sophisticated three-stage spell at all. Very few people, other than myself, have enough control and precision to use them safely. Any errors in the first stage spell would become greatly magnified in the third stage, so the first stage had to be very accurately constructed. I had less power but more precision than anyone else, so I had more need for staged spells and greater ability to construct them accurately. It's one of my specialties.

"Now I'll lower my mental shields and invite you to read my mind without any restrictions," I said. I was doing the unexpected again, and keeping the Lord off balance.

"Why?" he asked warily.

I replied, "It's easier than trying to express what I need to say verbally, and it allows you to verify the truth of anything you may discover. Think of it as a high powered pedagogical technique."

The Lord of Terror considered whether this was some new and subtle trap. Even if it was, he decided it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. He gingerly began his exploration of the contents of my memory. First, he searched for the spells I had used to bind him near me for the duration of our training encounter. This lead naturally to a review of the training I had undergone in preparation for this meeting. He was impressed.

"You went through all that just for me? I'm flattered," he thought.

"I may make mistakes from time to time, but underestimating the Lord of Terror won't be one of them," I responded.

Next he examined my memories of Kami-sama, Megumi, the Norns, and my relationships with them. This was new material for the Lord--he had never appreciated how rich and rewarding a loving relationship could be. He scanned my teaching the gods in Asgard, looking for magic and finding it, but also seeing the gods through my sympathetic eyes for the first time.

"That bilocation spell of yours is very clever. It's much better than the one I use," he commented.

After ten more minutes his demonic nature reasserted itself. With a brief cry of triumph, he took advantage of my unguarded state and possessed me. His body turned into insubstantial vapor and sank into my body. His triumph was short-lived.

I sent::'Won't you come into my parlor?' said the spider to the fly. Enjoy it while you can, Lord. You have five minutes, then it's my turn.::

The Lord of Terror was disconcerted--that thought had come from outside my body. A quick check revealed that I was no longer inside my body. He scanned the neighborhood and could find no trace of me. This was worrisome--I was being unpredictable again. I was using yet another new trick. I had become totally disembodied and was now in a "place" from which I could observe and act without being detected.

The Lord tried to remove the spells I had bound him with. No luck. He tried to teleport away. Blocked. He tried to leave my body. He couldn't.

::I didn't give you permission to leave,:: I sent.

The Lord was definitely upset now--this was _not_ going according to plan.

After five minutes was up my body stopped obeying his orders. He was still in sole possession of it, and I was nowhere to be found, but my body was obeying me and not him. It walked over to the nearest wall, caused a couch to materialize, and sat down and made itself comfortable. The Lord of Terror found himself forcibly expelled from my body and into his own. Then the unthinkable occurred: I possessed him! He resisted strenuously, and put up a good fight, but the outcome was never in doubt.

I made a mirror appear and struck a pose in front of it. "I've often wished I was a little taller," I thought. I admired the muscular reflection in the mirror. By now the Lord of Terror was quaking in fear; I might keep his body and use it for my own purposes. I tried a different pose and examined my reflection critically. "No, this isn't my style," I thought, and he calmed down just a bit. I banished the mirror and freed the Lord, returning to my own body.

"Had enough?" I asked pleasantly.

The Lord of Terror tried to calm himself. He recalled the training I had undergone prior to our encounter. He reviewed what had happened when he had tried his strength against mine. The Lord did the only thing he could do under the circumstances--he dropped to his knees, bowed his head, and said, "My master, I am yours. Do with me what you will."

I stood up and gently raised him to his feet. I answered, "Stop that, I won't be bowed to. I'm not your master; you need no master. For the next few months I'm your tutor, and you'll address me as 'Sensei.' After that you're a free man, and you can call me whatever you wish. I think you're getting quite a good deal here. I'll give you considerable opportunity to chart your own future, and that of the other demons as well."

The Lord remained silent for nearly a minute, thinking. I had gone to all the trouble of dominating him, and then told him I wasn't his master. Worse still, I had defeated him using very little magical power and made it clear that power such as his was of little value to me. It definitely made no sense.

"Sensei, I think I know what kind of entity you are. You must be a Paradox."

I was delighted. That description fit me perfectly. "Morisato the Paradox" was the label I had long sought and never found. "Thank you, Lord. You've just given me a gift of great value. I hope to return the favor soon."

He shook his head and said, "Sensei, I'm confused. I don't understand why you did the things you've done."

I tried to explain. "There are two important principles that guided my actions. First, I had to get your undivided attention. You're a pure Alpha Male--you expect complete obedience from your subordinates. According to your own rules you must give complete obedience to anyone who can dominate you. According to my own rules I must hurt you as little as possible, preferably not at all. All I had to do was 'decisively defeat' you without hurting you. I let you attack me without fighting back so it would be clear that your best efforts caused me no discomfort. Then I restored you to your full health and power before I attacked you so that you'd have no excuse for your failure to escape from my spell. After that I explained how the spell I had used could easily have been made stronger. I had trapped you without even using my best effort. I made it clear that in a real combat I was sure to win, but I did it without hurting you. Then I reinforced the message by letting you explore my mind. You saw how I dealt with opponents more powerful than yourself and emerged undefeated every time. By then you knew that I had won, but pride kept you from admitting it. After the possession incident you couldn't deny it any longer. It was a challenging assignment, Lord. How did I do?"

He considered for a moment before replying, "Defeat _me_ without hurting me? I'd have thought that was impossible. Yet, you've done it, and done it quite well. What was the other principle you mentioned?"

"I need to replace some of your most deeply held, but erroneous, ideas with new and incompatible concepts. Unfortunately, the only way to dislodge someone's core beliefs is to get him or her completely confused, baffled, and bewildered. Only then are they willing to consider radical new ideas. This means that I had to act unpredictably and contrary to expectations. In effect, I had to out-demon the master of demons. It was another challenging assignment. How did I do, Lord?"

"You're truly my master, Sensei." He bowed his head.

"I'd like to bring in some friends to help with the next lesson. One of them you already know," I said. There was a brief shower of sparks and then two goddesses materialized.

The Lord muttered, "I thought goddesses weren't allowed in Hell."

"Your warding spell is still in force," I explained, "but it's not strong enough to stop these fine ladies. Didn't you notice the sparks as they broke through?" I indicated the nearest goddess and said, "Lord, may I present Megumi, the Goddess of Computing."

The Lord was taken aback by Megumi's aura. Here was a goddess with power greater than his own, and with magical skill comparable to mine. Clearly she was a force to be reckoned with. He said, "Megumi, I already know a little bit about you, which I've gleaned from Sensei's memory. May I ask why you're here?"

"Mara and I are here to act as your support group. All three of us have recently had to make major adjustments as we changed from what we had been to what we are now. It's always a difficult process, but we hope to make it as easy for you as possible."

Lord looked at the other goddess. "Et tu, Mara? I hardly recognize you. Being a goddess must agree with you--look at how you've grown. You were always one of my favorite demons."

Mara smiled brightly and replied, "Thank you, my Lord. I trust I'll be one of your favorites again soon. You'll see."

"Let's begin the lesson," I declared. The three of us then projected a detailed reenactment (with commentary) of the morning when Mara had been converted from an enemy into a friend. When we were done, it was clear that the Lord had been deeply moved.

"I used to think _I_ was persuasive, but Sensei has an enchanted tongue," he said. "Mara, do you believe all the things he said that day?"

"My Lord, I've been bad and I've been good. I've been a man and a woman, a demon and a goddess, heterosexual and homosexual. I speak from experience when I say I _know_ what's right for me. I'm never going back to my destructive ways unless Sensei asks me to again." Her sincerity and conviction were obvious.

Lord looked thoughtful. "We demons always thought that love and truth were signs of weakness and foolishness. Obviously we were wrong. From your auras it's clear that love and truth are central to your characters, yet all of you are anything but weak and foolish. It seems that I've much rethinking to do."

Mara hugged him. He looked startled for a moment--nobody had ever hugged the Lord of Terror before--then his expression softened, and he returned the hug. Megumi and I beamed. The worst was over.

Lord asked me, "Sensei, did Kami-sama put you up to this project?"

"No, Lord, it's entirely my own idea. Kami-sama thinks it's just an unexpected bonus; he had designed me for an entirely different purpose."

The next day, during the break between the morning and afternoon training sessions, the Lord of Terror observed, "It seems to me I'll need a new name. My old name feels inappropriate now."

Megumi smiled. "Take your time, Lord, and pick something suitable after your training ends and things settle down."

I added, "We've been calling you 'Lord' for short. That can be your working handle until you find a better one."

A week later during dinner Lord said, "We may have more difficulty reforming the other demons than you expected. The energy coming from the Demonic Source is suitable for the way demons used to act. It's chaotic and destructive in its very nature. Demons get a dose of unruly behavior every time they consume demonic energy."

I grinned at him. "Have you tasted the demonic power flow recently, Lord?" He stopped and analyzed the power flow. It was subtly different from what he was used to. "It's about one percent less chaotic and three percent less destructive than it used to be, Lord. I've been changing it a little bit every week. I didn't want to give anyone indigestion or raise any alarms."

Lord looked surprised. "You've been purifying the Demonic Source? How can you do that? I can't even get near it; the power density is too great. You don't have enough energy to modify the Source."

"I don't have enough mana, but the Demonic Source has all the power I need to do the job. It's a classical martial art technique, using the strength of your opponent against him. I'm good at that, if you recall." Lord winced a little at the memory.

Mara put her hand on his arm and said, "Haven't you realized by now that Sensei never lets a day go by without doing or saying something astonishing? I think he has a built-in novelty generator."

After two weeks of training the reformation and reorientation portion of our task was essentially over. We closed up our outpost in Hell and relocated to Asgard. Mara and Megumi were relieved of their "support team" duties, but they hung around out of personal interest.

I took a day off to give Lord a tour and introduce him to a few people. You might expect that the sight of the Demon Prince in Asgard would cause a commotion, but it really didn't. Word of my current project had gotten around, and the gods were expecting us. He got more attention for his black loincloth attire than for his demon markings. Although the dress code for gods had been liberalized, it hadn't gotten nearly that far.

I introduced him to Deiko and Phoko, who were still demons when he had met them last. When I introduced him to Setun, he had a great laugh.

"So now you're 'Setun'? I remember you with a different name. Does anyone here get the joke?" he asked.

Setun replied, "If they have, they haven't mentioned it. That hasn't stopped me from enjoying it, however."

A little harmless mischief is welcome in Asgard now because it keeps life interesting.

When Lord shook hands with Kami-sama, Skuld recorded the event in a photograph that still draws interest in our library. She has a sure sense of history in the making.

Asgard itself had changed in the few years since I first arrived here. It used to be uniform in character from edge to edge. The central and largest portion is still in "classical" style, with gardens, floating terraces, and white marble structures of elegant design. The older or more conservative gods tend to cluster there. Surrounding this central portion there were now seven zones, each named for the dominant color of the buildings in them. Each zone blended tastefully with its neighbors and the central area. Less conservative gods gravitated to the zones. Beyond the zones were a few fringe neighborhoods where the designs and color schemes could be described as "experimental." The youngest gods tended to hang out in the neighborhoods.

We were in the blue zone when Lord remarked that a particular building looked like a Wright design. It was surrounded by Blue Spruce trees and blended in so well that you might not notice it at first glance. I was surprised, for I hadn't expected him to know much about architectural styles.

"It is Wright's work," I explained, "As long as we were remodeling, the God of Architecture invited a number of notable architects to submit designs for consideration. A few declined to submit, and a few submissions were rejected, but we have some interesting buildings to show for it. Nervi redesigned our amphitheater, which is now located in the yellow zone. Golden arches have never looked so good before."

We were in the neighborhood near the junction of the orange and yellow zones when Lord said, "You know, I could live in a place like this. It has life; it's not stuffy or solemn. It's my kind of town."

"You'd be welcome here," I answered.

Lord looked surprised. "Even if I'm not a god?"

I laughed. "The gods welcome me, and I'm not a god either, remember? In my own benevolent way I'm probably more disruptive than you'll ever be. I expect that in a few years the distinction between gods and demons won't be important, and either type will be welcome in Asgard or in Hell." He looked thoughtful for a moment, then he grinned in agreement.

After two more weeks of training I took Lord to Earth to meet my parents. I'd warned him that they weren't a typical mortal couple, but they were the kind of loving family that most humans wished they had. All my wives came along, so we had a larger than usual gathering.

After making introductions and some small talk, Takano offered to serve us tea. We accepted. Shortly afterwards, she called from the kitchen, "Keiichi, what's this in the pantry?"

"Bring it out, Mom. It's a western dessert they call 'devil's food cake.'"

Lord looked at me. "I can't tell whether I'm being honored or teased."

I grinned at him. "A little of each, Lord."

It was delicious, and we all enjoyed it.

Keima asked, "Lord, what do you do for a living?"

Lord answered, "Right now I'm a student, but usually I rule over all the demons in Hell."

Keima looked surprised. I tried to explain. "Lord is between names right now, because his old name no longer seems to fit. He used to be the Lord of Terror."

Our parents remembered being told of our earlier encounter with Lord. Takano said, "You seem like such a nice person; you couldn't be the same one who did those awful things. What happened?"

Lord actually blushed with embarrassment before replying. "Thank you. I hope I am a nice person now. I've had a close encounter with Sensei, and he's shown me the error of my ways. I believe there are no hard feelings on either side now."

I chimed in with, "We get along quite well now, as you've noticed. Lord has given me a great gift. He found the label I couldn't find for myself--I'm 'Morisato the Paradox' now."

Megumi exclaimed, "Give credit where it's due. I called you a paradox long before he did, and so did Urd soon afterwards."

Mother made a show of mock embarrassment. "My son the Paradox--whatever am I going to tell my friends?" We chuckled.

Lord looked at me and said. "You've also given me a gift of great value, Sensei." He tapped his chest and finished, "My heart."

Some time later Lord admitted that it still bothered him a bit that he had been beaten in combat by someone with very little power.

I replied, "Lord, would you feel better if you thought that I had great power?"

He looked startled. "Yes, but..."

I explained. "Megumi pointed this out to me, I'd been unaware of it myself. She's the Goddess of Computing, so she's closer to the action than I am. The mortals have a saying 'Knowledge is Power.' As Tutor to the Gods it follows that I must have access to enormous knowledge, and to the power that goes with it. Consider which is more powerful: a locomotive that can pull a heavy train, or the engineer who drives the locomotive and makes it obey his wishes? I know how to drive a locomotive, and any other kind of engine too."

As I finished, I looked pointedly at him. Lord understood, and made a sound like a mournful locomotive horn. He had just been demoted from ruler of his domain to a tool to be used whenever needed.

I continued. "My kind of power is better suited to my needs than your kind of power is. When you 'donated' your power to me I gained some power and you lost some, so the total amount of power remained constant. In contrast, when I teach you a new technique I still know it. The total amount of knowledge increases, and I lose nothing. Under the best conditions I learn from my students and we both benefit. That's my kind of power--the kind that has only winners and no losers."

Belldandy said, "Keiichi, Kami-sama told you that you had other powers and abilities that would manifest as time went on. Do you think this is one of them?"

"I doubt it. This isn't a new power, but rather a reinterpretation of an existing ability. I suspect I've identified a closely related ability that I wasn't aware of earlier. I seem to be able to answer any valid question, even on subjects that I thought I knew nothing about."

"How can you do that, Son?" asked Keima.

"I'm glad you asked, Keima, because I didn't know how myself until I heard your question. Are you familiar with holograms?" He nodded. I continued, "A single hologram can contain multiple images, each one corresponding to a unique reference beam of light. Shine the correct reference beam on it and you get the desired image immediately."

Megumi chimed in with, "Yes, they're trying to use that for data storage. It seems quite promising."

"Now imagine a hologram containing the answer to every possible question, where the questions themselves form the reference beams. As soon as a meaningful question is presented to it, the answer becomes visible immediately. The problem isn't just gathering all the information that exists into one place--that's already been done. The real problem is indexing such a vast amount of information. A regular catalog or index of this size would be completely unworkable because it's too big. The development of a holographic indexing scheme made all this data usable."

When our visit was over Lord admitted that my parents had impressed him. That was why I'd brought him there. A person could lack power and immortality and still be respected, because there are other measures of a person's worth. I wanted him to learn that lesson.

After we left Lord remarked, "It's a shame their lives are so short, they're good people."

"They don't see it that way," I replied. "In Japan beauty is valued more if it's fleeting. That's why the Sakura blossom season is so cherished--it's over quickly."


	4. Hitomi

The Lord of Benevolence  
As told by Morisato Keiichi

Chapter 4 - Hitomi

I took Lord on a brief tour of Earth. First we visited some places of unspoiled natural beauty. They still exist, though you've to go to out of the way places like Peru or Tibet to find them. Then, for contrast, I took him to a particularly noxious waste dumpsite in New Jersey.

Lord was disturbed. "Who's responsible for this mess?" he asked. I looked at him without replying. He understood. "When I find the demon who caused this, I'm going to..."

I interrupted him with, "Control yourself, Lord. He was just doing what a demon was supposed to do. After they get reeducated problems like this one will go away. Humans do a good job of fouling their own nest when they become too numerous, but they need demonic help to mess up a place this badly. I already have a project established to ease population pressure, so there won't be many more sites like this one." It was a sign of how far he had come that he was now upset by something that he formerly would have praised.

We visited city centers, suburbs, slums, shantytowns, and rural areas. Lord had seen all these places before, but now he was seeing them from a new perspective. The variety of experiences and environments on Earth was much greater than either Heaven or Hell allowed. I explained that I wanted to preserve as much diversity as I could while reducing the amount of useless misery. There would always be pain and hardship on Earth, but they'd serve to lead people to improve their lives.

Thirteen weeks after I had originally rescued the Lord I released him. We had my typical end of term session, a brief review followed by a question and answer period. There was no further need for me to tell him what to do. I could trust him to do the right thing of his own free will.

Belldandy invited Lord to a post-graduation celebration, and he accepted. By now there was no doubt that we were going to become good friends. Lord was a little envious of my family life. His previous lifestyle had no room for love, family, or even close friends, and now he was keenly aware of how alone he was. I thought this problem could be solved in a couple of years.

"Right now you have me, Megumi, and Mara, Lord," I pointed out, "There are three more former demons, and Kami-sama too as possible friends."

Urd said, "What about us? Don't we count for anything?"

She was obviously bothered by my omission. I made a mental note of her agitation and apologized to the Norns. I said, "Except for Kami-sama, all of my real friends are in this room. I have difficulty making friends among the gods and demons because I tend to overwhelm them. I used to worry about not being respected by the Megami, but now my problem is too much respect. Lord, in some sense you and I need each other."

After dinner Lord discussed his ideas for reforming the remaining demons. "One problem I'll have is locating them all. Once word gets around most of them are going to hide. A few may try to kill themselves. I don't expect a rebellion, it wouldn't have worked before and certainly won't work now."

I replied, "That's what happened to Mara. As soon as they saw that resistance was futile, the demons shunned her completely. I have already added a tracer to the power coming from the Demonic Source. Any demons who really want to hide will have to forego all use of magic power, or else we'll be able to locate them." By now I had reduced the destructive component of the demonic power flow to half of its original value.

Lord responded, "You've anticipated me again. You don't leave much to chance, do you?"

Skuld pointed out, "He lives with the Goddess of the Future, and he's a quick learner. But Kei-sama, you've got to remember that you're not infallible."

How true. "Point taken," I said.

Lord said, "I think my sales pitch will be 'If you can't lick them, join them.' Obviously the demons can't continue as they are. The gods are now much too effective to permit nastiness as usual. Reformation may seem distasteful, but the alternatives are even worse. A number of demons are loyal enough to follow me anywhere, even to Asgard. When the other demons see how much more satisfied they are, converting the rest should get easier. I won't force anybody to reform; it won't work."

I agreed. "If you need our help, you've got it. But remember, this is your project, not ours. You get to design the future of the demons; no one else could do it as well."

Lord continued, "We'll remain in Hell for a while, at least for the comfort of familiarity. Sensei, can you set up a temporary school in Hell?"

"Yes, of course. But I want no more than six concurrent sessions. I'd like to have a little time for myself and my family." I could dream, couldn't I?

Lord didn't think that would be a problem. "It might take a while to reform the first two-dozen demons, so you'll have a slow start. After that, who knows?"

We offered Lord a room for the night, and he accepted. He had no address in Asgard, and wasn't ready to return to Hell just yet. I took the opportunity to be alone with him for a few minutes and set a privacy spell.

I sent::Lord, I didn't realize the implications until tonight, but you and I must be related by marriage. My wife Urd is your child, so you may be my father-in-law.::

Lord corrected me. ::I'm her _mother,_ so I'm your mother-in-law. Only mortals worry about details like that.::

The gender issue didn't bother me; I had already contemplated bearing a child myself. I considered the implications of this revelation. ::I'm confused. I thought Hild was Urd's mother.::

Lord explained::Hild adopted Urd at an early age. I was too busy to care for her properly.::

::After all the jokes, I really _do_ have the mother-in-law from Hell!::

We both burst out laughing. Our mutual bond was now unbreakable.

I sent::Kami-sama is Urd's father, and you're her mother. If you don't mind my asking, how did that happen?:: I was understandably curious.

Lord looked wistful. ::A long time ago he and I were lovers. We had a lot in common, and we were happy together.:: His mood turned bitter. ::We were both too ambitious for our own good. Our ambitions collided, and we had a falling out. I set out to destroy all that he had made as a means of seeking revenge. After a few eons, I even began to enjoy destroying things.:: His mental voice became sad. ::In hindsight, I think I made the wrong choice. We've both changed as we grown older--I don't know if we can ever again be as close as we used to be.::

That was a shock. ::Thanks, Lord. That explains a great deal that I didn't understand before.:: I was trying to imagine how much misery had resulted from a lover's quarrel.

Lord sent::Your privacy spell indicates that someone doesn't know that I'm Urd's mother.::

::Megumi doesn't know, and wouldn't care. All three of the Norns know, but Urd prefers not to remember it. The Ultimate Program of Destruction incident didn't show her in a very good light. As Goddess of the Past, she's the one person who _cannot_ forget it, and it still bothers her. I hope to ease her pain someday, but I can't figure out how.::

Two days later Lord returned openly to Hell. If you want the details of what he did or said, ask him yourself. I waited three weeks before he called to announce that my first class of twenty reformed demons was waiting for me. I was back in the tutoring business!

The material that I taught was similar to what I had given to the Megami, but adapted to the special needs of demons. They didn't need to be encouraged to be playful, spontaneous, or creative. The demons did need practice in self-control, and in constructive or helpful thinking. My homework assignments reflected this difference. Instead of asking for the most useless spell, I challenged them to devise the most beneficial spell, subject to certain constraints. One of my assignments could only be completed by a group of demons working cooperatively together because they were accustomed to working alone. I actually had fewer problems with the demons than I had had with the gods. I knew they had much of value to contribute once they got over their adversarial mind set.

At the end of the trimester I expanded my usual brief review to include the homework problems that I had given to the Megami. One student asked, "Sensei, how come they get the fun assignments?"

"I try to give each class what they need the most. Believe it or not, the gods needed to be reminded how to have fun and be playful. Those problems weren't easy for them. In contrast, the gods would have found your assignments easy."

There was a murmur of amazement. "They needed to be _reminded_ how to have fun? What's wrong with them?"

"It's a cultural problem," I replied, "I've worked hard to open them up and make them more spontaneous. I hope that when gods and demons can work together cooperatively each side will learn from the other. Everyone will benefit."

One of the demons nodded. "It might work. Not long ago the idea of the two sides working together was unthinkable, but now it seems almost inevitable."

I felt a sense of pride and satisfaction when I heard that.

* * *

Two months into my third trimester in Hell, our alarm spell signaled. Hitomi's parents were considering sending him to a cram school. We really weren't expecting it yet; the boy was only eight years old. After a brief conference we realized that we still had no idea about how to handle an eight-year-old potential Megami.

That weekend, during our regular visit, we explained the situation to our parents. Megumi said, "Mom, when you next visit Nabuko, could you make inquiries about how Hitomi is doing? If she mentions cram school it would give us the perfect cover story."

Takano agreed. It wasn't a very good plan, but it was the best that we had come up with.

Ten days later I phoned Hitomi's mother. She answered "Moshi, moshi."

"Mrs. Miyazaki, this is Morisato Keiichi."

"Keiichi? I've heard a lot about you. Your mother is very proud of you. Where are you calling from? I thought that you'd left Japan."

"I'm near my parent's house. I've been away for several years, but I'm back now for a while. I'd like to talk to you about tutoring your son, Hitomi."

"I'm sorry, Keiichi, but we really can't afford a private tutor."

"I understand. May I come over and talk anyway?"

A pause. "I imagine it will do no harm. How about tomorrow at two?"

"That will be fine. Thank you."

The next day I appeared at the address I had been given and checked the name by the doorbell. I rang and after a moment the door opened. Miyazaki Kimiko was tall and slender, nicely dressed, and obviously well educated.

She looked surprised. "Morisato? Come in." I followed her in and removed my shoes. She said, "I was expecting someone older. You look like you're still in your late teens."

I realized too late that I had forgotten some minor details. The immortals usually accepted my apparent youth without comment. I smiled and tried to recover with, "Yes, I hear that often. I'm actually 32 years old."

We made small talk, as is customary before getting down to business. I told her that I had followed my wife Belldandy to her homeland, a place so remote that most people had never even heard of it. We had stayed there for a half dozen years, then done some traveling, and now we were back in Japan for several more years.

Kimiko said, "It sounds as though you've been around the world a lot. I've heard that you're a tutor. What does Belldandy do? Do you have any children?"

"Belldandy answers the telephone at a help desk. She's very good at helping people with their problems. We've no children yet, but I expect that someday we will." Have you ever tried to mislead someone while telling the absolute truth? I was bending the truth as little as possible.

When it was time to get down to business, I began, "Although I've been a successful tutor for years, I can't give any references because all of my clients are far away. To get established in Japan I need two or three satisfied customers here who'll be willing to vouch for me. I'm willing to reduce my fee to no more than a cram school would charge for those first few clients. Do you think you'd be interested?"

Kimiko seemed to be intrigued but uncertain. "Isn't it risky to entrust my child to a tutor with no references?"

I nodded. "I understand that. Let me demonstrate my confidence by making this offer: If at any time in the first four months you aren't satisfied with the progress Hitomi is making, for any reason at all, I'll refund my entire fee in full. I can put that in writing if you'd like."

She was impressed by my offer. "Let me discuss this with my husband. How can I reach you?" I gave her a phone number, and suggested she call my parents if she couldn't reach me.

The next day I was invited to return in the evening to discuss the details with Miyazaki Kosuke, her husband. I had researched cram school fees and picked a figure that was neither too high nor too low. The money didn't matter to me; I had no need for it, but if I charged nothing it would look suspicious. Eventually, we agreed and I got the job. I'd work for two hours each day after school, starting the next day. I thanked them and left.

When I arrived the next day, Kimiko gave me a brief tour before introducing me to Hitomi. I noticed that Hitomi had a cel from "The Crimson Pig" on the wall of his room. His sister Natsumi had a cel of "Kiki" in her room. Both cels looked authentic. I was fascinated because I had practically worshipped Miyazaki Hayao when I was growing up. I turned to Kimiko, who anticipated my question.

"No," she said smiling, "Everyone asks that. There's no relationship that we know of, but we do seem to get preferential treatment when we ask for cels."

Hitomi and I liked each other right away. During our sessions together he was to address me as "Sensei." Kimiko would see to it that we weren't disturbed or interrupted. He was initially apprehensive about having to do more studying. After our first hour together his apprehension evaporated. When our first session ended he happily told his mother, "I wish my regular teacher was like Morisato-sensei. I learned so much, and it didn't feel like work at all."

Four months later Kimiko made a display of tearing up my fee refund offer. I was a success, or so I thought.

A little more than a year after I started tutoring Hitomi, I got a call from his mother. He had started a new year in school, and his new teacher wanted to talk to her after school. I was most definitely invited.

Mrs. Fujiwara turned out to be a pleasant, matronly woman. I could tell from her aura that she had a keen mind. After introductions were completed, Kimiko began, "Fujiwara-sensei, are you having a problem with Hitomi?"

"Please don't alarm yourself," Fujiwara replied, "Hitomi is a model student. He's bright, polite, attentive, and he never makes any trouble. However, I sensed that he was bored. Hitomi is so academically advanced that I don't know what to do for him. He seems to know all the material I'm supposed to teach him, and much more besides. I spoke with him after class, and he told me that his tutor Morisato-sensei had already taught him everything. I thought I just had to meet his tutor. Morisato-sensei, just what have you been teaching Hitomi?"

It seemed like a fair question. "First, I taught him everything he was supposed to learn in this school; that took nearly six months. Then I taught him all the other Kanji..."

"All of them?" interrupted Kimiko, who was understandably surprised.

I answered, "Nearly all. I've omitted any that haven't been used in the last 100 years, because I saw no need to go into archaic forms yet."

Mrs. Fujiwara muttered, "I don't know anybody who knows all the Kanji."

I continued, "Next, I taught him English, or rather the American Dialect. Currently, I'm teaching him Mandarin. We've covered nearly 6,000 Chinese Hanzi."

Kimiko asked, "Why Chinese?"

"Hitomi asked for it. He may have a Chinese manga or some other reason. I was planning to do French or Russian next. I want to cover foreign languages now because he'll soon be too old to learn them without an accent." Actually, he was already too old to learn languages without an accent, but I was willing to extend the window of opportunity a little if it was in a good cause.

It was only then that I noticed the expressions on the women's faces. I asked, "Is there a problem? Was that too much? Wasn't I holding back enough?"

In perfect unison the two women exclaimed, "You were _holding back_?"

"Yes, of course," I replied mildly, "Hitomi is only nine years old. I didn't want to rush him or pressure him. I go nearly twice as fast with my mature students."

I realized again that I wasn't being careful enough in dealing with mortals. I had been in Asgard only a few years, but I had gotten used to dealing with gods and demons. I had visited my parents every weekend, so I thought I was still in touch with mortals. In my innermost heart I still thought of myself as mortal, so I hadn't anticipated the need to be cautious.

After a long pause Fujiwara-sensei turned to Kimiko and asked, "Where on Earth did you find him?"

Kimiko said, "I think he found me. His mother is a good friend of my mother." Turning toward me, she continued, "I knew you were doing a good job, but I had no idea..."

Mrs. Fujiwara asked me, "Morisato-sensei, what will you be teaching him next?"

"I'd like to cover all the languages that have a substantial body of literature, but I could drop some of them if he shows no interest. After that we'll be doing subjects not normally covered in schools, things like art, astronomy, anatomy, ballet, computer subjects, metalworking, musical instrument playing, sculpture, archeology, zoology, and things like that. I won't know for sure until I see where his interests and abilities lie. It may be easier to list what I won't be teaching. I don't want to cover material that's not suitable for a prepubescent child until he comes of age. I'm uncomfortable teaching religion, and I don't want to teach anything that would seem like magic. However, if he asks me questions in those areas, I'll try to answer appropriately."

Fujiwara-sensei looked amazed. "You can teach all those subjects? Morisato-sensei, do you know everything?"

I laughed and replied, "No, I don't know everything. But nobody seems to believe me when I say that. If I did know everything, I wouldn't be able to learn anything, and I enjoy learning as much as I enjoy teaching."

She was obviously bewildered. "How is it possible to teach so much so quickly?"

"Suppose I was trying to teach the concept 'this brick is heavy.' I could say 'this brick is heavy,' or I could say 'this brick weighs 7 kilograms,' or I could put it on a scale and say 'look how heavy this brick is,' or I could toss it and say 'catch,' or I could ask him to pick up the brick, or... Well, you get the idea. I've developed the ability to sense, for each individual student and idea, the one best way to present a concept so that it's most easily understood and remembered. That's why I have to teach one-on-one, or in small groups. Whatever works best for one pupil is probably not the best for the next pupil."

In halting Russian, Kimiko asked, "Kak vashe zdarovia?"

"Ochen horosho," I replied fluently, and continued for a few more seconds.

Kimiko looked bemused. "Maybe he really does know everything."

"There's one way to find out," observed Mrs. Fujiwara. Turning to me, she asked, "Sensei, how old am I?"

I grinned and replied, "Forty years, ten months, eight days, and..."

She held up a hand and said, "That's enough, Morisato-sama."

I noted the honorific, but said nothing. For the next few minutes she asked questions of increasing difficulty, and I answered every one. Finally, she asked the toughest question she could think of.

"What was Fermat's original proof of his famous Last Theorem?"

I laughed and said, "It's been a while since anybody asked me _that_ one." I closed my eyes for a second, as if trying to remember something. Then I grabbed a pad and a pen and filled two thirds of the paper with writing. It was mostly algebra, but there were a few explanatory remarks also. I gave her the paper.

"This is in French," she exclaimed.

"Did you expect Pierre de Fermat to write in Japanese?" I replied.

Fujiwara-sensei said, "I will show this to my husband. He's a math professor at the university."

"That's going to be quite a scene," I thought to myself. I was enjoying showing off, although I suspected that it wasn't a good idea.

Mrs. Fujiwara asked, "Morisato-sensei, how did you manage to learn so much at such an early age?"

"Using a similar technique, I sense the best way to teach myself. I'm able to learn new material very quickly, so I can teach tomorrow something that I don't know today. I've had some very unusual educational experiences. Let me add that I'm 33 years old, and have been tutoring for about seven years."

"You certainly don't look that old," she observed.

I said, "I've been hearing that often recently. The truth is I look like this because I forgot to grow older."

In unison, the women exclaimed, "You _forgot_?"

"Is there an echo in here?" I asked rhetorically. I looked upward as if imploring heaven for forgiveness, and concluded with, "I make one little mistake and everybody gets on my case."

"I wish I had a memory like that," muttered Kimiko.

"This has been an extraordinary meeting, but it hasn't solved my original problem. What can I do for Hitomi? I certainly can't compete with Morisato-sama," asked Fujiwara.

"It's I who can't compete with you, Fujiwara-sensei," I said. "I can't do what you do every day. I'm a tutor, not a teacher. I prefer to work one-on-one. The largest group I can handle is four at once, and to do that many I need my students be closely matched in ability and experience. You routinely handle classes larger than I can. As for Hitomi, don't you have any books in a library? Why not let him read in class, as long as he can do it discreetly?"

"I guess I could do that," Mrs. Fujiwara said. "It's a little unusual, but this whole situation is unusual. Thank you both for coming. This has been a day to remember." The meeting was over.

As we were returning to her home, Kimiko appeared to be in a mild state of shock. "Morisato-sama, I knew you were good, but I had no idea that you were the best tutor in the world."

"Please call me -sensei, not -sama. I don't claim to be the best tutor in the world; I think that's a meaningless concept. What are you going to do, gather all the tutors in the world and evaluate them in some way? It makes no sense. Some will excel in mathematics, others will be better in language arts. Tutors can't be ranked, so there can't really be a world's best." I sighed. "It does seem to be my destiny, even if it makes no sense."

"Destiny?" asked Kimiko, intrigued.

"Years ago I consulted a fortune teller about a personal matter. She called herself 'Skuld, the Goddess of the Future.' She correctly answered my original question, but then she became very deferential and told me I was destined to become the best tutor in the world. I thought that was a ridiculous notion. I was an engineering student, interested in cars and motorcycles and things that go fast. Teaching was the last thing I expected to be doing. I forgot about it. A few days later I had the opportunity to tutor my sister and her friend. I enjoyed it so much that I never went back to engineering. It's funny the way things work out sometimes."

"I see," Kimiko said. After a short pause she added, "With a talent like yours you should be able to command a much higher fee than you're charging us."

"I suppose so, but don't worry. I've never concerned myself with the size of my fee. I enjoy working with Hitomi, and he likes studying with me. Doing good work is my greatest reward." I thought I had patched things up reasonably well.

Three days later Kimiko got a call from Professor Fujiwara. He was anxious to talk with me. I called the professor and made an appointment for the following afternoon. I found the Professor's office without difficulty. He was a short man, about my height, with prematurely gray hair, a bushy mustache, and a friendly manner.

"Morisato-sensei, I'm glad you could come. You made a very favorable impression on my wife. I want to ask you about that document you gave her. It's really amazing."

I smiled at him. "What do you want to know?"

"It looks absolutely authentic. It's in Fermat's own handwriting and notation. The mathematical ideas are novel and powerful. Yet, the document is obviously a fake. It's written in ballpoint ink on modern paper. Where did you get if from?"

"It's not exactly a fake. It's a reproduction from memory of an authentic original document. I consider it a copy. Pierre was reluctant to release it because it contains a flawed argument. Your wife asked for his 'original proof,' so that's what I gave her. Would you like to see his corrected proof?"

Fujiwara nodded eagerly. "Yes, of course I would."

I took a fresh piece of paper and covered the front and one third of the back with algebraic notation. The professor grabbed a loose-leaf binder and compared what I had written with several of its pages. I noticed that he was looking at photocopies of old documents.

He exclaimed, "This is in Fermat's handwriting too, yet I watched you write it yourself. That's remarkable." He was practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

"I've a photographic memory," I explained, "The original document is sequestered where no copying machines or cameras are allowed." This was perfectly true--you can't take pictures in the afterlife. Fermat had completed this proof four years after he died.

The professor was ecstatic. He said, "This proof will revitalize the study of diophantine equations. I've never seen anything like it."

When he calmed down, I asked, "As long as I'm here, are there any other areas you'd like my help on?"

He looked up and said, "Well, I'm having a problem in transfinite calculus."

I thought, "I've spent several years contemplating infinity, or rather eternity." Aloud, I said, "Let me see it, Professor." I spent nearly two hours tutoring him on various aspects of advanced mathematics.

As our time together was nearly over, Professor Fujiwara said, "It will take a while to fully develop the insights you've given me. I'd like to give you credit when I publish."

"That's not important to me, but if you're giving credit be sure you give it to Fermat where appropriate. He did the work, all I did was check it for correctness."

"All you did was check it for correctness... I see. Would you consider a career in mathematics? You could be the greatest mathematician since Gauss."

"Thanks, Professor, I'll tell Karl you said that. He'll be flattered. I don't do mathematics; I only teach it."

Fujiwara looked puzzled. "What's the difference?"

"Doing stuff is work; teaching stuff is fun. Besides, I like my job the way it is."

"Just what is your job, Morisato-sensei? Surely you don't limit yourself to tutoring young boys," he asked.

I had no need to dissemble, so I answered truthfully, "I tutor all the gods in Heaven, all the demons in Hell, and selected mortals on Earth."

The professor looked stunned, but he believed me. It was the simplest possible explanation for my remarkable abilities. He sat down and shook his head. "I see. That explains everything. You really are on first-name terms with Pierre de Fermat and Karl Freidrich Gauss. I suppose I should be honored that you spent this time with me. Are you a god?"

I laughed. "Of course not, Professor. If I were a god, I'd have to tutor myself. I'm sure you can see the logical contradiction there. I'm not a demon for the same reason, and I'm no longer mortal, so I must be something else. I'm a Paradox, and when I get undressed I become a naked singularity."

Fujiwara chuckled. "I've never met a talking Paradox before."

I said, "Now there's a price that comes with this disclosure. If you ever try to tell someone that I'm not entirely human you'll find that you've forgotten this entire meeting. You may safely confirm what others know or suspect. I prefer to keep my true nature secret, or a lot of folks would get upset."

Professor Fujiwara understood. He asked, "How can I get in touch with you?"

"Your best bet might be to send me e-mail at senseiasgard. My wife is the Goddess of Computing, and she insisted that I have an e-mail address."

"Is that dot com or dot edu?"

"No dots, Professor. It's magic, not technology. Your DNS will never see it."

"Will I ever see you again?"

"I really don't know whether we'll ever meet again. I go wherever I'm needed most. Alive or dead, animal, mineral or vegetable, divine or profane, it makes no difference to me. If trees ever develop an urgent need for tutoring I could be branching out."

The professor winced at the image. We said our farewells, and I left, without bothering to open the door.


	5. The End of the Beginning

The Lord of Benevolence  
As told by Morisato Keiichi

Chapter 5 - The End of the Beginning

Another year passed without incident. I continued tutoring the reformed demons. If you looked closely you'd have seen signs of improvement in conditions on Earth, now that the gods and the demons were cooperating instead of competing. Then another important event occurred.

I had just finished an afternoon tutoring session with Hitomi when Kimiko indicated that she wanted to speak with me. "Morisato-sensei, I'd like you to begin tutoring my daughter Natsumi."

I should have expected it, but I didn't know how to respond.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Miyazaki, but I'm not really interested in teaching your daughter."

"Why not?" she asked, "Are you too busy? We're prepared to pay appropriately."

I thought about it for a moment. Perhaps the time had come to tell the whole truth. "It's not a matter of time or money. Natsumi is a fine girl, and you should be proud of her, but she lacks one very rare qualification that I look for in my students."

Kimiko looked puzzled. "What qualification?"

"Most people don't have it--there's nothing to be ashamed of. She just doesn't have the potential to become a Megami."

Kimiko looked very confused. "Is this some kind of joke? What are you saying?"

"This won't be easy to explain. You've already noticed that I'm an unusual tutor. The truth is that I'm more unusual than you can believe. It's my job to tutor all the gods in Heaven, all the demons in Hell, and the potential gods on Earth."

Kimiko began mumbling to herself, "Gods...demons...potential gods... Oh my goodness! You mean Hitomi..." She gave me a searching look. I nodded affirmatively. She sat down looking dazed. "I wish my husband was here."

"So do I. It would be best if the three of us could talk. I can bring him here right now if you'd like."

"He doesn't even leave work for half an hour."

"That's no problem. A little time travel won't hurt him."

She looked at me wide eyed. "Oh! Very well then, please bring him here."

I turned toward the front door. It opened, revealing Mr. Miyazaki in the doorway and an office interior behind him. He looked startled, and began to turn his head back and forth rapidly. His office was behind him and the interior of his home was in front of him!

Kimiko said, "Close the door, dear, your coworkers are starting to notice."

He closed the door, looked around, and then opened the door again. The customary exterior view was plainly visible beyond the doorway. He said, "I think I've just had the most extraordinary experience."

Kimiko responded, "That was Sensei's doing. I believe he has something important to discuss with us."

Mr. Miyazaki removed his shoes and entered. After embracing his wife briefly, he turned to me and asked, "Sensei, did you really do that? How did you do it?"

I nodded. "A simple demonstration of magic in action. I needed to establish some credibility because you may find it to hard to believe me otherwise." I paused for a minute, then continued, "Let me try to start at the beginning. Normally, mortals aren't aware of the doings of gods and demons. It's better for the gods and the mortals to maintain this shield of privacy. On rare occasions a mortal with unusual qualifications will be granted a wish--this happened to me a few years ago. Originally, I was a mortal, just like you two are. One day when I was in college a goddess appeared and offered to grant me a wish."

Kosuke interrupted with, "A goddess?"

"Yes, Belldandy, the Goddess of the Present. I wished for a girl like her to stay with me forever. That simple wish began a series of extraordinary events, which culminated in my becoming the tutor to all the gods in Heaven. Since then I've extended my job to include tutoring demons and potential gods too."

Now Kimiko interrupted. "Demons?"

"Yes, but they're nice demons."

"Nice demons? That sounds like an oxymoron."

"It's a new concept, but we all have to get used to it."

Kosuke interjected, "Potential gods?"

"I'm coming to that. It is possible, but rare, for a mortal to be promoted to a god or a goddess. Most recently, this happened to my sister Megumi. Anyway, some years ago I gave my parents a magic shortcut, which enabled them to travel easily wherever they wanted to go. It works a little differently than the spell I used to bring you here. Instead of opening a door, they have to walk into a wall or other flat surface. The shortcut spell contains a privacy provision so they won't be conspicuous. Nobody can notice them walking into or out of walls except those who already know about it, and potential Megami. I didn't expect to catch any potential gods, but it never hurts to try. "

Kosuke asked, "What does that have to do with us?"

"Do you remember when four-year old Hitomi asked his mother 'How does Mrs. Morisato walk through walls?'"

Hitomi's parents considered what I had said. Kimiko asked, "Are you saying that my son is a potential god?"

"That's right. There's no assurance that he'll become a god, but he has the potential to do so. This presented a real problem for us in Heaven. In all history only six mortals have actually become gods, so we've very little experience to draw upon. Previously, the youngest identified candidate was 16 years old. We had no idea about how to handle such a young candidate. We decided to wait and watch, until the two of you began considering cram school. I guess you know the rest."

Kosuke asked, "What's going to happen next?"

"That's what I want to discuss with you. You're his parents and should have primary responsibility for raising him. For the next eight to ten years my objectives are similar to your own. I want to nurture Hitomi, protect him from harm, and watch him grow up. I'm not trying to make him do or be anything; I want his growth to be natural and choices to be his own. I'm certainly not going to snatch him away from you before he's ready to go."

I noticed a sense of relief after this last remark. Nobody said anything, so I continued. "There seems to be a narrow window of opportunity for mortals to become Megami. They have to be old enough to leave their birth family, and young enough to not have married and settled down. Could either of you say, 'Goodbye my dear, I'm off to Asgard to become a god. Take care of the kids for me, and I'll visit you on weekends?' No responsible person would do that. The few recruits we've had ranged in age from 18 to 23 years old. If Hitomi falls in love at an early age, he may choose to remain mortal. I'm sure he'll be successful if he makes that choice. That's why I've tried not to teach him anything that would prevent him from leading a normal mortal life."

Kimiko said, "This will take a while to get used to. There really are gods and demons, and my son could become one of them." A moment later she added, "Was Skuld, the Goddess of the Future, a real goddess?" I nodded. She asked, "What about you? Are you a god?"

"Not exactly. If it's convenient, you may think of me as godlike. It would save a lot of explanation."

Kimiko responded, "I guess that explains why you don't get wet when it's raining, or cold when it's snowing. I'd wondered about that."

"I've tried not to influence Hitomi into choosing one path or another, but recently he's surprised me. He's begun to develop paranormal abilities. Let me show you what I mean. The conversation you are about to see took place two days ago." I projected an image of Hitomi and me in his room, during a study session.

Hitomi-image looked up and said, "Sensei, I had a dream about you last night. I saw you living in a large house. It was all white and sparkly."

Sensei-image looked surprised and responded. "Yes, that's right. Did you dream anything else?"

"Sensei, do you really have four wives?"

"Yes, I do. Do you think that's too many?"

"Oh no. They're so pretty, and everybody looked so happy, so it must be okay."

The projected image faded away.

"You can be sure I didn't tell him that I have four wives. I suspect that just being near me may have affected his development of psychic abilities. After all, I began developing my own magical abilities because I lived with three goddesses for a few years."

I continued, "Now I really don't know what to do, and I want your advice. Should I stay away from Hitomi so he can develop naturally, or should I remain with him in case he needs help coping with whatever abilities he may develop? If I stay with him, how much should I tell him about me? What should I tell him about his own potential?"

Kosuke said, "You're asking _us_ these questions? I'd expect you to know better than us how to handle it. This is all so unexpected that we're unprepared to answer. Give us some time to adjust."

"I don't need an answer today. I'd rather have a good answer next week than a poor answer right now. If you've any questions, you know how to reach me. You may also want to talk to my parents. A few years ago they watched my sister become a goddess. They'd be delighted to discuss their experience with you--after all, there are so few people they can talk about it with."

Kimiko looked startled, and asked, "Where's Hitomi? I haven't seen him since his lesson ended."

I answered, "He's in his room, playing cards with me. I wanted to talk to you without his overhearing."

"Playing with _you_? But you're here with us!"

"Where is it written that I can only be in one place at a time? Go check on him, I can wait."

She arose and went to Hitomi's room and opened the door a bit. From inside the room I looked up and winked at her. Kimiko covered her open mouth with her hand and backed away, then closed the door quietly. Returning to the living room she said, "It's true. Sensei is in two different rooms simultaneously. This is becoming stranger and stranger."

I observed, "When I told my parents what had happened to me, I made them promise not to use the word 'impossible' for 24 hours. Perhaps I should have made the same request of you. Skuld once claimed that I did three impossible things every morning before breakfast. I keep trying not to overwhelm people, but..."

Kimiko asked, "What problems could it cause if Hitomi were to develop paranormal abilities and then chose not to become a Megami?"

"An excellent question," I replied, "I inadvertently placed my sister in a similar position when I began teaching her magic while she was still a mortal. A true magician in contemporary Japan would have considerable trouble fitting in. What company would hire a wizard? What kind of job would interest someone who can walk through walls and fly without an airplane? Where would he find peers, a role model, or even close friends?"

She nodded. "It sounds like Kasuga in 'Kimagure Orange Road.'"

I agreed. "A good analogy. He could try to hide his powers in order to blend into society. That would be one way to handle it, but it seems wasteful to me."

Kosuke said, "I don't have any problems with your continuing to tutor Hitomi. He seems to like you, and he's developing well under your care. Perhaps you should give us status reports more frequently in the future. I don't want any more surprises."

After a moment, Kimiko asked, "If you were to tutor Natsumi, could it cause any problems for her? Is she likely to develop ESP?"

"Natsumi might develop psychic abilities, but they'd be less than Hitomi's. I'd be more careful not to teach her too much, so that she wouldn't become academically overqualified the way Hitomi has. In hindsight, I wish I had held back a little more while I was tutoring him."

Kimiko briefly exhibited a calculating expression, then she announced, "Morisato-sensei, I don't think I want you tutoring my son in the future unless you tutor my daughter too." Was this blackmail? No, it was maternal instinct, a force so powerful even the gods have trouble resisting it.

I laughed. I didn't object to tutoring Natsumi, but I was busy enough with Hitomi and the demons.

"I know when I'm beaten. Let me introduce you to someone who might do an even better job for her than I can." There was a soft pop as my female replica appeared in the room. I addressed Hitomi's parents as I said, "Allow me to present Morisato Keiichi. I suspect Natsumi would prefer to be tutored by her."

They looked baffled. "Is she your sister?" asked Kosuke.

I answered, "No, my sister has facial markings and short brown hair. Onna-Keiichi is myself."

Not surprisingly, Onna-Keiichi agreed with me. "We are one and the same person," she said, "To paraphrase my male self, where is it written that I must have only one gender?"

Kosuke was having trouble grasping this. "You're both the same person, even though one of you is male and the other is female?"

The two of me nodded in unison. Onna-Keiichi answered him, "Yes. And before you ask, the answers are: yes, once, and it was wonderful." Turning towards my male self, she continued, "Honestly, you men are all so ecchi (interested in sex)."

I responded, "You should know. You are one, after all."

Mr. Miyazaki blushed deeply.

I said, "Natsumi is nearly nine years old. Soon, she'll have questions that she wouldn't ask a male tutor to answer. She may be more comfortable with my female self."

Kimiko understood. "It's a good idea, but it may be hard to explain." Then she exclaimed, "Oh. Look at the time. I haven't started dinner yet." She started to rise.

"Relax," I said, "I'll prepare dinner tonight, and I'm inviting myself to join you." My male self went into the kitchen, leaving my female self in the living room.

Kosuke looked confused. "He's going to cook?"

Onna-Keiichi replied, "Why not? I'm an excellent cook. My wife Belldandy is the best cook in Heaven, and I'm a fast learner." It took him a minute to realize that my female self could have a wife. I understood this; he was getting a lot of surprising information in too short a time.

I changed the subject. "In case you were wondering, I usually don't charge for my services because I've no need for money. I've put the fees I collected from you into a bank account. When I finish my tutoring here I was going to give it to charity, but I could return it to you if you'd prefer."

They both looked surprised and relieved. "That explains why your fee was so reasonable. Why did you bother charging us anything initially?" Kimiko asked.

I answered, "I was trying to pass for human then. If I hadn't charged anything it would have aroused suspicions." A moment later I announced, "Dinner is almost ready."

Kimiko responded, "So soon? That seems very fast."

I smiled at her and let the delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen speak for itself.

The replica of myself in Hitomi's room told him to come to dinner, then delivered the same message to Natsumi, and then discreetly vanished. I thought two of me would be enough for tonight.

Soon we were seated around the table. My male self sat between Hitomi and my female self, who was seated next to Natsumi. Mr. Miyazaki was next to Hitomi; Mrs. Miyazaki was seated next to Natsumi. There were murmurs of appreciation at the sight of the appetizers already laid out. We said, "Itadakimasu," and began to eat.

Kimiko introduced my female self to her daughter. "Natsumi, this is Morisato Keiichi. She'll be your new tutor."

Natsumi looked at me and said, "That's my brother's sensei's name."

I agreed. "It certainly is. It's my name too, because he and I are the same person."

Natsumi giggled. "That's silly. He's a boy and you're a girl. You can't be the same person."

At that my male self morphed into female form, while my female self morphed into male form. "This puts me one up on Ranma," I thought, "Now I'm Keiichi 2/2." Aloud, I asked, "Who's a boy now?"

Around the table jaws dropped open. Natsumi's eyes went wide. "How did you do that?"

My two selves morphed back to their original forms, and then I answered in unison, "Magic!"

"There's no such thing as magic," Natsumi declared, but she didn't sound entirely convinced.

I smiled at her and asked, "Is there such a thing as a glass chopstick?"

She shook her head. "Of course not. That would be silly."

I reached over and touched one of her chopsticks. It made a "clink" sound as it turned into glass. "How about a silver chopstick?" I touched her other chopstick, which went "clank" and became very shiny. Natsumi's eyes opened even wider, but she made no sound. She'd been holding those chopsticks as they transformed.

My male self reached out towards Hitomi's chopsticks. "What about a golden chopstick?" Tap. "Or a chocolate one?" Tap. Hitomi held two unusual chopsticks.

Hitomi looked at me and said, "Sensei, I can't eat with a chocolate chopstick. It's not strong enough."

"I'll get you another one then," I said. Holding out a finger toward him, I said, "Pull." Hitomi pulled on the end of my finger. A sapphire chopstick pulled out from the tip of my finger.

Hitomi beamed with pride and exclaimed, "What did I tell you? My sensei can do anything!"

Natsumi said quietly, "She can do magic."

Without being prompted, Hitomi broke the chocolate chopstick in half and gave one piece to his sister. The kid was definitely a candidate for divinity.

I cleared away the remains of the appetizers and brought out the main course. There were exclamations of delight. "Wow, lobster!" "Yellowfin, my favorite!" After a few moments, there were further comments of appreciation.

"This is heavenly," said Kimiko. I nodded in agreement. She was exactly right.

A few minutes later Hitomi asked me, "Sensei, will you teach me to do magic?"

"That's a definite maybe," I answered, "But you can be sure I won't do it before you're more grown up."

The rest of the evening passed without incident.

The next day I began teaching Natsumi. We did academic material that she might get in school for about a month (I didn't want her to get too far ahead of her class), then we moved on to foreign languages. It wasn't long before the parents got used to hearing their children chattering away in French, English, Chinese, or other languages.

I discovered that I was more comfortable around the Miyazakis now that I had "come out." I didn't have to watch myself as carefully, and I was being accepted for what I actually was. Sometimes honesty really is the best policy. After a period of adjustment, they were more comfortable with me too. Little things that had puzzled them before were now understood and accepted. I may be a "supernatural being," but I was still Morisato Keiichi.

I offered them some "field trips" as part of their language education. We'd make an occasional two-hour visit to someplace interesting where the natives were speaking the language being studied. I didn't bother with passports and customs officials, which may have been technically illegal, but I invoked the Heisenberg Principle. We could break any law, provided we did it for a brief enough time. I'd be responsible for keeping the Miyazakis and the natives safe during our visits. We usually traveled by teleportation to save time, but once we flew to enjoy the scenery. Hitomi wanted to go to San Francisco, so we went there first. I converted some of my collected fees into dollars so we'd have a little spending money. We all enjoyed it so much that we went back a week later and spent two hours in the Exploratorium. When we went to Egypt, we did a little time travel too and watched the construction of the Sphinx. It was very educational, and I couldn't have done it if I hadn't confessed first.

I was just finishing teaching my last trimester in Hell when another noteworthy event occurred. Two gods and two demons had gotten together and formed a heavy metal band called Ragna-Rock. Their first concert, "Ragna-Rock Around the Clock," was held in the new amphitheater. It's a good thing the new theater is larger than the old one, because the audience for the concert exceeded the total population of Asgard. Gods and demons were mixed together in the audience and nobody gave it a second thought. Aeton was on stage performing, and Fieara was in the front row of the audience cheering him on. I guess they were getting along better now. Skuld attended with her friend Donner. I went with Urd. I also stayed home with Belldandy and Megumi, neither of whom was into heavy metal music. The concert was a little too loud for my taste, so I shielded my ears a little. Fortunately, everyone present was immune to hearing loss--a convenience that mortal rockers don't enjoy.

I thought the concert was remarkable because nobody else thought it was at all unusual. The old rivalry between the gods and the demons had been completely transcended, and both groups mixed socially without friction. I was very pleased to see this change because I'd played a significant part in making it possible.

Two weeks later Lord finally settled on his new name. I was given the privilege of announcing it to my family before it became public knowledge. Lord and I entered my home just before dinner. I projected a brief trumpet fanfare to get everyone's attention. My wives gathered around expectantly.

With a flourish, I announced, "Ladies, I have the singular honor to present--my good friend, the Lord of Benevolence."

There was a brief round of applause, with congratulations and good wishes being expressed by all. When the commotion died down, the Lord of Benevolence paused and then morphed into a new but strangely familiar shape. Megumi, Belldandy, and Skuld facefaulted.

In contrast, Urd's expression was one of pure joy. She rushed forward and embraced Lord, crying, "Mother! Oh Mom, I've missed you so much."

Lord held her tightly and answered, "It's all right, Urd-chan, from now on I'll be here for you whenever you need me."

With that one simple gesture, Lord had done what I hadn't been able to do--he healed Urd's innermost pain. It's one thing if your mother is the Lord of Terror, but it's much better if your mother is the Lord of Benevolence. If you don't believe me, just ask my wife Urd.

Postscript:

When he was 19 years old, Hitomi became the God of Serendipity. It seemed to be an appropriate choice of domain.

Despite my urging restraint, conditions on Earth improved so noticeably that old people with good memories could be heard reminiscing about "the bad old days."

The mysterious invulnerability that I exhibited during the sparring sessions was another byproduct of my wish. The Ultimate Force was keeping me safe from harm so that I could be with Belldandy forever. I hadn't wanted to tell anyone for fear that the demons would find out and devise some countermeasure.

As you know, every Thursday night "Ben" (as he's known to his closest friends), Megumi, Kami-sama, and I gather for some games and socializing. When we play four-dimensional chess, Ben usually wins. I usually win when we do interplanetary archery (it's that precision thing again). Once a year we have a design-a-world contest, which everyone particularly enjoys. Our children, star-class deities all, have been invited to join us. Usually, they're too involved with each other to pay much attention to old folks like us. It's been an interesting life, and I look forward to many more years of the same.

* * *

Authors Note: C & C welcome. I'd like to acknowledge the following fanfic authors, whose work has entertained and inspired me: Ed Sharpe for "No Mere Mortal," Brett Handy for "Oh My God!", Sean Gaffney for "Proposal/Wedding/Honeymoon," and Fred Herriot for "A Remarkable Destiny."

The good news is that I finally wrote a fanfic under my own power, without divine assistance. The bad news is that (in my humble opinion) it shows; I think I write better when the goddesses are assisting me. If you agree/disagree, drop me a line. Thanks for reading this; I enjoyed writing it.

Yes, I know that Megami are all supposed to be female. I'm ignoring that aspect of tradition in order to strike a small blow for gender equality.

I've been wondering... When Kami-sama created the universe, he didn't even try to make one as big and complex as this one is now; instead he created a "seed" universe and let it expand and evolve. Similarly, my first fanfic "Keiichi's Magic Trick" was the seed of my second fanfic "Megumi No Megami." This story was similarly contained within, and grew organically out of, MNM. Does this mean that KMT was a three-stage spell? If so, then the inspiration for my original story was probably Keiichi's work. Just a thought...

M.B. 6/28/98 Minor revisions 11/19/06


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